Lee Bok-hee (also Lee Bok-hui, Korean: 이 복희; born December 13, 1978, in Seoul) is a South Korean judoka, who competed in the women's half-middleweight category.[1] She won fourteen medals in her career, including a silver in the 2001 East Asian Games in Osaka, Japan, achieved fifth-place finishes at the 2003 World Judo Championships, and represented her nation South Korea in the 63-kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[2][3]

Lee Bok-hee
Personal information
Full nameLee Bok-hee
Nationality South Korea
Born (1978-12-13) 13 December 1978 (age 45)
Seoul, South Korea
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
SportJudo
Event63 kg
Medal record
Women's judo
Representing  South Korea
Summer Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Beijing 63 kg
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Jeju City 63 kg
Silver medal – second place 2004 Almaty 63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Tashkent 63 kg

Lee emerged onto the world stage at the 2001 East Asian Games in Osaka, Japan, where she won a silver medal in the 63-kg division, losing the final by a "yusei" victory to Chinese judoka and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Li Shufang.[3] This was followed by a share of bronze medal with Russia's Anna Saraeva in the similar category at the Summer Universiade in Beijing, China. As Japan hosted the 2003 World Judo Championships in Osaka, Lee finished in fifth place after losing the bronze medal match to Germany's Anna von Harnier.[2][4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Lee qualified for the South Korean squad in the women's half-middleweight class (63 kg), by placing second and receiving a berth from the Asian Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She lost her opening match to Argentina's Daniela Krukower by a golden-score point and a tani otoshi (belt drop) in a close fight.[5] In the repechage, Lee gave herself a chance for an Olympic bronze medal, but slipped it away in a defeat to France's Lucie Décosse, who scored more points than her on waza-ari and threw her down the tatami with a kuchiki taoshi (single leg takedown) assault during their five-minute first round match.[6]

Since her retirement from competition in late 2006, Lee has served and committed as a lifetime coach for her newly-wed husband Choi Sun-ho, who later competed for South Korea in the 90-kg division at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lee Bok-hee". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Krukower Beats Gonzalez to Win Women's 63kg World Judo Gold". Xinhua. China Radio International. 12 September 2003. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Japan captures East Asian Games soccer gold". The Japan Times. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Judo: Florian Wanner holt überraschend WM-Gold" [Judo: Florian Wanner brings a surprising world championship gold] (in German). Rheinische Post. 12 September 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Judo / Injury denies Krukower shot at medal bout". Haaretz. 18 August 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Judo: Women's Half-Middleweight (63kg/139 lbs) Repechage Round 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Korean athletes go for gold at the Games". Korea.net. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
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