Jang Jae-Sung (Hangul

Hangul

Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...

: 장재성, Hanja

Hanja

Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

: 張在成; born March 15, 1975 in Incheon

Incheon

The Incheon Metropolitan City is located in northwestern South Korea. The city was home to just 4,700 people when Jemulpo port was built in 1883. Today 2.76 million people live in the city, making it Korea’s third most populous city after Seoul and Busan Metropolitan City...

) is a retired South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n freestyle wrestler

Freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...

.

Career

Jang first garnered attention in the 1992 World Junior Wrestling Championships, held in Cali, Colombia, where he won the gold medal in the freestyle 63 kg class.

Jang won the silver medal in the freestyle 62 kg class at the 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

, where he defeated reigning world champion Elbrus Tedeyev

Elbrus Tedeyev

Elbrus Tedeyev is a Ukrainian wrestler and Olympic champion; he became a citizen of Ukraine in 1993. He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...

 of Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 3-1 in the quarterfinals but lost to Tom Brands

Tom Brands

Tom Brands is the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. He won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics....

 of United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 7-0 in the gold medal match.

Jang accumulated another Olympic medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

, where he lost to eventual gold medalist Mourad Oumakhanov

Mourad Oumakhanov

Mourad Oumakhanov is a Russian wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling.-Olympics:Oumakhanov competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he received a gold medal in Freestyle wrestling, the featherweight class.-References:...

 of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 in the semifinals but beat 1997 world champion Mohammad Talaei

Mohammad Talaei

Mohammad Talaei is an Iranian retired wrestler.-External links:*...

 of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 in the bronze medal match.

Post career

Jang participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 as an assistant coach of the South Korean national freestyle wrestling team. He currently serves as an assistant coach in the LH Wrestling Club.

External links

• Jang Jae-Sung's profile from sports-references