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Won Woo-young
Personal information
Born	(1982-02-03) 3 February 1982 (age 42) Seoul, South Korea
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Sport
Country	South Korea
Weapon	Sabre
Hand	Right-handed
Years on national team	2004–2015
Highest ranking	5 (2010-2011)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 Asian Games 1 2 0 World Championships 1 1 1 Asian Championships 4 4 1 Olympic Games 2012 London Team World Championships 2010 Paris Individual 2014 Kazan Team 2006 Turin Individual Asian Games 2014 Incheon Team 2006 Doha Team 2010 Guangzhou Team Asian Championships 2011 Seoul Individual 2011 Seoul Team 2014 Suwon Team 2015 Singapore Team 2007 Nantong Team 2010 Seoul Team 2012 Wakayama Team 2012 Wakayama Individual 2015 Singapore Individual

Won Woo-young (Korean: 원우영; Korean pronunciation: [wʌn.u.jʌŋ]; born 3 February 1982) is a South Korean sabre fencer. He won gold at the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games and Asian Championships and is the first Asian fencer to win gold in the men's individual sabre event at the World Championships.

After retiring, he became a sports commentator for Seoul Broadcasting System and covered fencing events at various international tournaments. In November 2021, he was appointed coach of the men's sabre team.

Early life

Won attended Hongik University High School, then one of the few schools in Seoul with a fencing team, and was a year ahead of future sabre teammate Kim Jung-hwan. One of their seniors was foil fencer and future Olympic silver medalist Choi Byung-chul. He graduated from Korea National Sport University in 2004.

Career

Won began competing internationally in 2004 and won the bronze medal at the sabre 2006 World Fencing Championships, after losing 15-10 to Zsolt Nemcsik in the semi-final. At the sabre 2010 World Fencing Championships, he won the gold medal, beating then-world number 1 Nicolas Limbach 15–9 in the final. It was the first time an Asian fencer had won the gold medal at a sabre event in the World Championships.

Won, together with Oh Eun-seok, Kim Jung-hwan and Gu Bon-gil, were selected for the national team to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics The Olympics began on a sour note for them as he, Kim and Gu all did not make it past the semi-final stage of the individual event; he lost in the last 16 to Nikolay Kovalev, the eventual bronze medallist. They managed to win a historic gold in the team event, South Korea's first ever Olympic gold medal in the men's team sabre category. The quartet continued to dominate in the team events; in the year 2014 alone they swept gold at both the Asian Championships and Asian Games hosted at home and won silver at the World Championships. They had a disappointing run at the 2015 World Championships as none of them reached the final in the individual event and then lost by only a point to France in the quarter-finals of the team event. A week later, they successfully defended their team gold medal at the Asian Championships, his last major international competition. He and Oh both retired from the national team at the end of the season.

In 2016 Won was awarded the Order of Sports Merit Cheongnyong (청룡장; English: Blue Dragon) class, the South Korean government's highest honor bestowed on professional athletes who meet the criteria.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

Year	Location	Event	Position
2012	London, United Kingdom	Team Men's Sabre	1st

World Championships

Year	Location	Event	Position
2006	Turin, Italy	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd
2010	Paris, France	Individual Men's Sabre	1st
2014	Kazan, Russia	Team Men's Sabre	2nd

World Cup

Year	Location	Event	Position
6/25/2005	Sofia, Bulgaria	Individual Men's Sabre	2nd
6/18/2010	New York City, United States	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd
5/13/2011	Madrid, Spain	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd
4/27/2012	Athens, Greece	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd

Grand Prix

Year	Location	Event	Position
2/29/2008	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd
6/4/2011	Warsaw, Poland	Individual Men's Sabre	2nd
3/3/2012	Budapest, Hungary	Individual Men's Sabre	3rd

Post-retirement

Won retired from the national team in 2015 but continued to play amateurly and coach at his club. He also became a commentator for SBS and covered fencing events at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Asian Games.

In November 2021, ahead of the Orleans Grand Prix, the Korean Fencing Federation announced that Won had been appointed coach of the men's sabre team.

Personal life

Won married his girlfriend of three years, a flight attendant, in September 2015.

References

1. "원우영, 세계 남 사브르 사상 첫 금" (in Korean). KBS. November 7, 2010.
2. ^ "원우영 '녹슬지 않은 에이스의 검'" (in Korean). joins.com. August 4, 2012.
3. "스포츠 명문고를 찾아서 [10] 홍익사대부고 펜싱부". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). April 12, 2007.
4. ^ "[Weekend Interview] 펜싱강국 이끈 '레전드'에서 亞게임 해설위원 변신한 원우영" (in Korean). mk.co.kr. August 17, 2018.
5. "Korea's Won makes fencing history". Sydney Morning Herald. November 7, 2010.
6. "Won makes history at fencing worlds". The Korea Herald. November 7, 2010.
7. "Won Wu-yeong Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
8. "Driven by controversy, S. Korean fencers enjoy record medal haul". The Korea Herald. August 5, 2012.
9. "Fencers stay sharp from start to finish". Korea JoongAng Daily. August 6, 2012.
10. "Fencing: Unfancied South Korea win men's sabre gold". Reuters. August 4, 2012.
11. "'펜싱코리아 대표검객' 원우영-김정환 청룡장 받는다". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). October 14, 2016.
12. "제54회 체육의 날(10. 15.) 기념 대한민국체육상 시상 및 체육발전유공자 정부 포상" (in Korean). Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. October 14, 2016.
13. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
14. "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
15. "'열광 해설' 최병철 KBS해설위원, SBS 해설진과 펜싱 김정환 응원 "방송사 다르지만 우리는 하나"". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). August 11, 2016.
16. "'원우영의 뜨거운 눈물'… SBS 펜싱 중계 실시간 '시청률 1위'". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). July 28, 2021.
17. "SBS, AG 펜싱 중계 방송 시청률 1위…정우영X원우영 콤비의 빛난 해설". Sports Seoul (in Korean). August 20, 2018.
18. "'원조 어펜저스' 원우영, 김정환·구본길 이끄는 대표팀 코치로". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). November 5, 2021.
19. "2021 펜싱 국가대표 지도자(코치) 채용 합격자 발표" (in Korean). Korean Fencing Federation. November 2, 2021.
20. "'펜싱 그랜드슬래머'원우영,5일 미모의 승무원과 화촉". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). September 3, 2015.

External links

• Profile and Career Statistics at the FIE website

• 1982 births
• Living people
• South Korean male sabre fencers
• Fencers from Seoul
• Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Olympic fencers for South Korea
• Olympic gold medalists for South Korea
• Olympic medalists in fencing
• Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Asian Games medalists in fencing
• Fencers at the 2006 Asian Games
• Fencers at the 2010 Asian Games
• Fencers at the 2014 Asian Games
• Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea
• Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea
• Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
• Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games
• Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games
• South Korean Buddhists
• Korea National Sport University alumni
• South Korean sports commentators
• Wonju Won clan
• 21st-century South Korean sportsmen