Yoon Hyun-Ji at 32: the quiet fighter who chose her own finish

Not every athlete seeks the spotlight. Yoon Hyun-Ji built a career on resilience and steady progress. At 32, the former Olympic finalist and Asian medallist has retired after a decade-plus at the top of Korea’s -78kg scene. Her Olympic story began in Tokyo 2020, where she finished fifth after losing the bronze contest to Mayra Aguiar. In Paris she returned, beat Britain’s Emma Reid, then fell to China’s Ma Zhenzhao in the second round and shortly after announced her farewell to competition. Yoon picked up judo in 2007 and rose quickly under coaches Lee Yong-Ho and Lee Hyun-Kyung. She reached the Junior World Championships final in 2011 and earned a Grand Slam bronze in Tokyo in 2012. Remarkably, she would wait eleven years for her next Grand Slam medal, another bronze in Tokyo in 2023 — a testament to patience in a brutal weight class. Her résumé includes seventh at the 2014 World Championships, bronze at the Asian Pacific Championships 2019, gold at the 2019 Asian Open Hong Kong, Grand Prix Portugal victory in 2022, silver at the 2024 Asian Championships and bronze at the 2022 Asian Games. European rivals — Emma Reid, Guusje Steenhuis, Madeleine Malonga and Luise Malzahn — featured regularly in her toughest fights. Known as “Yoon Tiger”, she trained at Jincheon and studied in Yongin. „You grow when you do things you don’t want to do.“ She leaves the tatami on her own terms. Source: judoinside.com