Lim Ae-ji, Korea's First Olympic Medal for Women's Boxing

54kg class quarterfinals 3-2 decision win, advance to semifinals, secure bronze medal, first boxing medal in 12 years since London “I will win in semifinals and finals as well”

“I’m thinking about the finals,” said Lim Ae-ji (25) after winning the first ever Olympic medal for Korean women’s boxing.

On the 2nd, she faced Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda in the quarterfinals of the women’s 54kg class at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Paris North Arena in France, and won 3-2 by decision with three of the five judges’ votes. 안전놀이터

Lim Ae-ji, who advanced to the semifinals, secured a bronze medal.

In boxing, there is no bronze medal match, and both semifinal losers are awarded bronze medals.

This is the first Olympic medal for a female boxer in Korean boxing history.

It is also the first time in 12 years since the 2012 London Olympics that Korea has won an Olympic medal.

The last Olympic medalist for Korean boxing was Coach Han Soon-chul (40, silver medal), who coached Im Ae-ji and came to the Paris Olympics with her.

Lim Ae-ji, who wrote a new history for Korean boxing, was not satisfied with the bronze medal.

She emphasized, “It is more meaningful because it is the first title for women’s boxing,” but added, “The coaches said that I would win one more victory before the quarterfinals, but I said that I would win three.”

She was determined to win the gold medal by winning the semifinals and the finals.

Lim Ae-ji started boxing as a hobby in the fifth grade of Hwasun Elementary School in Jeollanam-do.

She started boxing because she happened to see a cool female boxer, and despite her parents’ opposition, she began her career as a full-fledged athlete in her third year of middle school.

Since she started later than others, she had to work hard.

Im Ae-ji says that she learned her specialties, fast steps and left-hand straight techniques, by watching videos on her own.

The road to becoming the first Korean female boxing medalist was not smooth.

Although she became the first Korean athlete to win the 2017 Youth World Championships, she was eliminated in the first round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

Lim Ae-ji said, “After the Tokyo Games, Coach Han Soon-chul told me ‘There are three years left until the Paris Olympics’ and I lost all my strength” and added, “It was so hard that I wondered what I did for the past three years.”

She then said with a bitter smile, “I was a college student in Tokyo, and I joined a professional team in Hangzhou and was a working adult.

I persevered because I was a working adult.”

Lim Ae-ji will face Hatise Akbashi (Turkiye) for a ticket to the finals at 11:34 p.m. on the 4th (Korean time).

She pledged, “I will do my best to help develop boxing in our country,” and “I will do my best to prepare for the semifinals as well.”