Judoka Huh Mimi Wins 5th Consecutive National Sports Festival Title in Women's 57kg Division

Huh Mimi (Gyeongbuk Sports Council), the gold medalist at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, has achieved her fifth consecutive victory at the National Sports Festival.

Competing in the final of the women's general 57kg division at the 107th National Sports Festival held at the Namnyeong High School Gymnasium in Jeju Island today (October 17), Huh claimed the gold medal by defeating Kim Joo-hee with an ippon via hold-down (nurikki).

After winning her first National Sports Festival appearance in 2022 and taking the gold medal every year since, Huh has built a milestone of five straight titles.

After receiving a default win in the first round, Huh defeated Park Da-sol in the quarterfinals with an ippon via hold-down just 1 minute and 9 seconds into the match.

In the semifinals against Lee Jae-ran, she secured victory by scoring a waza-ari with a shoulder throw (eobor-chigi) with 19 seconds remaining in regular time.

Huh, a Zainichi Korean born to a Korean father and a Japanese mother, chose South Korean citizenship in 2021 following the dying wish of her grandmother, who wanted to see her compete as a South Korean athlete.

A fifth-generation descendant of the independence activist Huh Seok, Huh won a gold medal at the 2024 International Judo Federation (IJF) World Championships and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Although she struggled with a decline in practical match sharpness after undergoing shoulder surgery that limited her participation in many international competitions, she captured her first-ever Asian Games gold medal in Nagoya, Japan.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.