Lee Jeong-min, 2nd Consecutive Judo Champion for the Disabled AG, "Left Knee is Limited... I will Nurture my Juniors"

Judo under 90kg Lee Jeong-min, Hangzhou Disabled AG finally retires from national team

Although he won his second consecutive victory in judo at the Asian Para Games, his expression of disappointment was evident.

Lee Jeong-min (Sports Grade J2, Pyeongtaek City Hall), who won the gold medal in the men's under-90kg judo class at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games held at the Xiaoshan Linfu Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China on the 25th, said, "I have no choice but to quit the national team after this competition. "he said. 카지노

I have trouble with my knees.

Lee Jeong-min, who said, “I had surgery on my left knee three times,” added, “I have arthritis, and even if I exercise a little hard, it starts to fill with water and swell quickly.”

Lee Jeong-min, who has congenital retinal delamination, played as a non-disabled athlete until 2014, but converted to a disabled athlete in 2015.

As a disabled athlete, he won medals in every major competition.

Silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games, gold medal at the 2018 World Championships, and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

These were all obtained after fighting through injuries.

At the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games, he competed in the finals with a ruptured knee ligament, and at the Tokyo Paralympic Games he competed with a herniated disc in his back.

The same was true for the Hangzhou Asian Para Games.

Lee Jeong-min, who raised his weight class from 81 kg to 90 kg, ate a lot and increased his exercise, which inevitably led to overloading his sore knees again.

Lee Jeong-min said, "He also had surgery on his right knee once," and added, "Both knees hurt, so even though I am in the 90kg weight class, I had to keep my weight below that."

Lee Jeong-min trained through pain while repeating, ‘If you are like everyone else, you can’t be more than everyone else,’ and it paid off with a medal at an international competition.

Lee Jeong-min was diagnosed with stage 4 left knee arthritis.

The cartilage in his left knee is completely missing.

His knees were beyond their limits to handle his intense training.

Lee Jeong-min said, "Failure to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games is the only thing I can do as an athlete, but now is the time to let go of my greed.

In the future, I will participate in domestic competitions and contribute to nurturing juniors."

Regarding this Asian Games, Lee Jung-min said, “It is a happy ending.”

Lee Jeong-min, who took a deep breath , encouraged himself for wearing the Taegeuk symbol for 7 to 8 years and winning medals despite numerous injuries, saying, "You did a good job.

You did well.

And you lived hard."