Even with a bad knee, the gold medal went to Heo Mi-mi again. In the women's 57kg final of the 107th National Sports Festival at Namnyeong High School in Jeju on Saturday, Heo (Gyeongbuk Sports Council) beat Kim Ju-hee (Ulsan) by hold-down ippon for a fifth straight title.
No signature move needed
She finished both the quarter-final and the final with hold-downs. The reason she kept her trademark uchimata in the bag is her knee.
The same knee limited her throws at the Asian Games too, yet smart match management delivered her first Asian Games gold, and she carried it into the National Sports Festival.
Not at full strength
After silver at the Paris Olympics she had shoulder surgery and missed many international events. More recently the knee has been the problem.
A check-up after the Asian Games brought no good news. She will skip surgery and rehabilitate instead, and this event ends her season.
A gold every year
Heo was born in Japan to a Korean father and a Japanese mother. In 2021 she took Korean nationality, following her grandmother's last wish to see her compete for Korea, and she has won National Sports Festival gold every year since the next one.
"When I first competed here, hardly anyone was cheering," she said. "Today I heard a lot of cheers, and that was nice."
Next stop: Namyangju City Hall
After this event she leaves Gyeongbuk Sports Council for her new club, Namyangju City Hall. Her targets are the Asian and World Championships next year and gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
She missed this year's World Championships because they overlapped with the Asian Games team event. Her younger sister Heo Mi-o took bronze in the women's 48kg at the same Festival.
