Huh Mimi (KOR) won the -57kg Asian Games gold with a kouchi-gari against Terbish Ariunzaya (MGL). It only scored yuko but it was enough to win her the match.
The victory came despite a serious injury that had complicated Huh's preparations for the event. She had torn the posterior cruciate ligament in her right knee while training was unable to practice judo at all until as recently as South Korea’s training camp in Sendai, Japan, in September
Huh was still undergoing rehabilitation and receiving injections at the athletes’ village until shortly before the Asian Games began. She competed with her knee tightly wrapped in special tape, several times thicker than what she normally uses.
Her last event before the Asian Games was the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam where she failed to medal. This Asian Games gold is a return to form for Huh.
Huh was born and raised in Tokyo but she moved to South Korea in 2022 after her grandmother told her, “I hope to see my granddaughter represent Korea” as her dying wish. Huh previously held dual South Korean and Japanese citizenship, but eventually gave up her Japanese citizenship.
