Kim Jun-ho (fencer)

Kim Jun-ho (born 26 May 1994) is a South Korean right-handed sabre fencer, three-time team Asian champion, three-time team world champion, and 2021 team Olympic champion.^[1]

Kim Jun-ho
Personal information
Born	(1994-05-26) 26 May 1994 (age 30) Hwaseong, South Korea
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Sport
Country	South Korea
Weapon	Sabre
Hand	right-handed
Club	Hwaseong City Hall
Head coach	Yang Dal-sik
FIE ranking	current ranking
Medal record Men's sabre Representing  South Korea Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Team World Championships 2017 Leipzig Team 2018 Wuxi Team 2019 Budapest Team 2022 Cairo Team 2023 Milan Team 2018 Wuxi Individual Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Team 2022 Hangzhou Team Asian Championships 2016 Wuxi Team 2017 Hong Kong Team 2019 Chiba Team 2022 Seoul Team 2017 Hong Kong Individual 2018 Bangkok Individual 2018 Bangkok Team Universiade 2017 Taipei Team

Kim Jun-ho
Hangul	김준호
Hanja	金準鎬
Revised Romanization	Gim Jun-ho
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Jun-ho

Early life

Kim had been a football player throughout elementary school and was introduced to fencing in middle school. He enrolled at Dong-Eui University as it was one of the few universities which had a fencing team.^[2]

Career

Kim made the senior national team for the 2014–15 season. He took silver in the 2016 Warsaw competition of the 2015–16 Fencing World Cup, narrowly losing to compatriot Gu Bon-gil, and was also part of the team — along with Gu, Kim Jung-hwan and Oh Sang-uk — which won gold in the men's team sabre at the 2016 Asian Fencing Championships.^[3] However, there was no men's team sabre at the 2016 Summer Olympics due to the now-abolished rotation policy and he and Oh were not ranked high enough to qualify for the individual event. Unusual for professional athletes, Kim decided to enlist early rather than apply for a postponement and was assigned to the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps. While a member of the Corps, he led the men's sabre team to win the President's National Fencing Championships, the main domestic fencing competition, beating Korea National Sport University.^[4][5]

In 2018 Kim was part of the team which swept gold in the team sabre event at both the World Championships and the Asian Games.^[6][7] He was scheduled to be discharged in October but was granted an early discharge; participating athletes who won gold and had yet to complete their military service were granted exemptions but since Kim had already enlisted, he was discharged earlier than scheduled.^[8][9]

With the retirement of Kim Jung-hwan, Ha Han-sol joined the team and they won gold in the men's team sabre event at the 2019 World Fencing Championships. In the individual event, he made it to the Round of 32 where he was defeated by András Szatmári. He also won bronze at the Cairo Grand Prix, having been defeated by Oh in the quarter-final.^[10]

Kim was reunited with his teammates from the 2018 Asian Games and World Championships after Kim Jung-hwan came out of retirement and they qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[11] He was the designated substitute for the team and did not compete in the individual event as Kim Jung-hwan's higher individual FIE ranking meant that the latter entered the individual event instead. Despite the postponement of the Olympics, the quartet successfully defended the men's team sabre gold medal.^[12][13]

Kim was part of the team which won gold at both the 2022 Asian Championships and World Championships. He had a disappointing run in the individual events, having been knocked before the quarterfinal stages in both competitions as well as the Grand Prix competitions.^[14]

Medal record

Olympic Games

Year	Location	Event	Position
2021	Tokyo, Japan	Team Men's Sabre	1st[15]

World Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2017	Leipzig, Germany	Team Men's Sabre	1st[16]
2018	Wuxi, China	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd[17]
2018	Wuxi, China	Team Men's Sabre	1st[18]
2019	Budapest, Hungary	Team Men's Sabre	1st[19]
2022	Cairo, Egypt	Team Men's Sabre	1st[20]

Asian Games

Year	Location	Event	Position
2018	Jakarta, Indonesia	Team Men's Sabre	1st[21]

Asian Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2016	Wuxi, China	Team Men's Sabre	1st[22]
2017	Hong Kong, China	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd[23]
2017	Hong Kong, China	Team Men's Sabre	1st[24]
2018	Bangkok, Thailand	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd[25]
2018	Bangkok, Thailand	Team Men's Sabre	3rd[26]
2019	Tokyo, Japan	Team Men's Sabre	1st[27]
2022	Seoul, South Korea	Team Men's Sabre	1st[28][29]

Grand Prix

Date	Location	Event	Position
22 February 2019	Cairo, Egypt	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd[30]

World Cup

Date	Location	Event	Position
2016-02-19	Warsaw, Poland	Individual Men's Sabre	2nd[31]
2019-10-05	Madrid, Spain	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd[32]
2020-03-08	Luxembourg	Team Men's Sabre	1st[33]
2022-01-17	Tbilisi, Georgia	Team Men's Sabre	1st[34]
2022-05-08	Madrid, Spain		1st[35]
2023-03-04	Padua, Italy	Team Men's Sabre	3rd[36][37]

Personal life

In 2018, Kim married his girlfriend Yoo Jung-hyeon.^[38] He appeared on The Return of Superman with their son Eun-woo (born October 22, 2021).^[39] In a November 2022 episode of The Return of Superman, the couple announced that they were expecting their second child. Their younger son Jeong-woo was born on May 2, 2023.^[40]

In August 2021, Kim signed with Haewadal Entertainment.^[41]

Filmography

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2022	Twenty-Five Twenty-One	Kim Jun-ho	Cameo (Episode 13)	[42][43]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2021–present	Let's Play Soccer	Cast Member	Season 2	[44]
2022–present	The Return of Superman	Cast Member	Ep 444–present

Honours

Other

• 2022 KBS Entertainment Awards (2022) – Popularity Award (The Return of Superman)^[45] b
• 2023 KBS Entertainment Awards - Excellence Award in Reality Shows (The Return of Superman)