Jeju native Lee Hyun-ji wins gold at World Judo Championships, eight days after Asian Games silver

【Financial News, Jeju—Reporter Jeong Yong-bok】 Nineteen-year-old national team judoka Lee Hyun-ji, who grew up in Jeju, rose to the top of the world after putting the disappointment of an Asian Games silver medal behind her. After winning the youth and junior world championships, she also claimed gold at the senior World Judo Championships, emerging as a new force in the heaviest division of South Korean women’s judo.
On the 11th, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the International Judo Federation (IJF) said that Lee Hyun-ji (19, Yong In University) won the women’s +78kg final at the 2026 World Judo Championships, held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the 10th (local time), defeating France’s Romane Dicko by ippon.
Lee, ranked No. 4 in the world, scored a waza-ari with a leg-wheel throw against world No. 3 Dicko in the final, then completed the ippon victory with a scarf hold (kesa-gatame). It was the first time she had won gold at the senior World Judo Championships.
Her performance on the way to the title was also dominant. She finished all four bouts, from her opening match through the semifinal, with ippon victories in no more than a minute.
In the semifinal, she defeated Israel’s Raz Hershko, the world No. 1 and silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in just 48 seconds. In the final, she also beat Dicko, a former world champion, winning all five bouts by ippon to claim the title.
The gold medal is especially significant because she reclaimed at the World Judo Championships the top spot she had missed out on at the Asian Games just eight days earlier.
Lee won silver after losing by ippon to China’s Niu Xinlan in the women’s +78kg final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on the 2nd.
She was deeply disappointed not to reach the top of the podium at her first Asian Games, but competed at the World Judo Championships without taking a break and won gold.
South Korean judo has produced a winner in the women’s heavyweight division at the World Judo Championships for a second consecutive year, following Kim Ha-yun of Ansan City Hall last year. Lee won bronze at the senior World Judo Championships last year before claiming gold this year.
Lee, who grew up learning judo in Jeju, is the daughter of Lee Chi-hun, a former ssireum wrestler and executive director of the Jeju Ssireum Association. From an early age, she honed her skills with signature moves such as harai-goshi, which resembles ssireum techniques. She drew attention after being selected for the national team as its youngest member while in her first year at Namnyeong High School.

She continued to make progress on the international stage. She won the 2023 World Youth Judo Championships and, in 2024, when she was in her second year at Namnyeong High School, claimed the title at the World Junior Judo Championships.
In her third year of high school, she proved she could compete at the senior level by defeating Japan’s Mao Arai, a Tokyo Grand Slam champion, by ippon. After winning bronze at last year’s senior World Judo Championships and gold this year, she achieved the distinction of winning world titles at the youth, junior and senior levels by the age of 19.
In an interview with the IJF after the match, Lee said, “I was nervous facing Dicko for the first time, but I trusted my ability and stuck to my usual approach.” She also expressed pride in being able to bring the gold medal home to South Korea.
In a congratulatory message that day, Jeju Governor Wi Seong-gon said, “Together with the residents of Jeju, I offer warm applause to Lee Hyun-ji, who has achieved one valuable result after another on the big stage, from an Asian Games silver medal to a World Judo Championships gold.”
He continued, “As she said, ‘I trusted my ability and fought,’ believing in herself and giving it everything until the end led to the gold medal. Seeing her commit to a technique without hesitation and decide the contest even against an opponent she had just met gave me a sense of how intensely she must have trained.”
Wi described Lee’s victory as an achievement made possible by Jeju’s sports community working together. He said, “The sight of an athlete who grew up in Jeju reaching the top of the world by taking on a challenge and believing in herself has given the residents great strength,” and emphasized, “That gold medal also bears the sweat of the family and coaches who nurtured her, as well as Jeju’s sports community.”
He also sent a message of encouragement to student athletes training in Jeju and dreaming of competing on the world stage.
Wi said, “I hope Jeju’s student athletes, who are at the fields and gyms before dawn, will dream bigger as they watch Lee Hyun-ji. I will pay closer attention to ensuring athletes can develop their abilities to the fullest in Jeju.” He added, “Together with the residents, I will support Lee Hyun-ji’s journey all the way through the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.”
After winning the youth and junior world championships and then the senior World Judo Championships, Lee Hyun-ji’s next challenge is the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (LA). Attention is now turning to whether the judo athlete who began her journey in Jeju will continue to grow on the Olympic stage.
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