Tokyo Olympians – South Korea’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion Im Ae Ji

The Tokyo Olympic Games is ahead of us the re-scheduled event will be held in Japan between July 23 and August 8. The Asian Boxing Confederation introduces our quota holders firstly the women boxers who qualified already to Tokyo through the Asian & Oceanian Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event which was held in Amman, Jordan on March 2020.

South Korea’s Im Ae Ji was born on May 11 in 1999 and following her first experiences in the sport, she competed in the 2015 National Sports Festival. Following that competition, she won six national events in the high school and youth age groups in South Korea in 2016 and in 2017 which guaranteed her place in the national team.

Im Ae Ji, who trains at the Hwasun Champion Boxing Club, was one of the secret favourites for a medal at the Guwahati 2017 AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships. One of the top Kazakh coaches, Mr. Bolat Niyazymbetov worked in South Korea in that period and he supported her developments in strength and tactic.

Im Ae Ji had five strong opponents at the Guwahati 2017 AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships and she exceeded all of the previous expectations with her triumphs in India. She defeated India’s Vanlalhriatpuii, Bulgaria’s Aslahan Mehmedova, United States’ Diana Estrada, Australia’s Ella Boot and finally Italy’s Vittoria De Carlo. Her gold medal at the featherweight (57kg) was one of the biggest sensations of the whole event in Guwahati.

Im joined to the elite age group in January 2018 and she won her first South Korean national event a few months later. She was sent to the Ulaanbaatar Box Cup to Mongolia to increase her international experiences before the Asian Games. She met with China’s star Yin Junhua in the quarter-finals Jakarta 2018 Asian Games which she lost but proved her impressive technical skills against one of the medallists of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Im competed at the New Delhi 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, at the Bangkok 2019 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and at the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem. She had strong opponents on these competitions and following the sparring events, training camps and international tournaments, Im became ready before her main challenge. She defeated her main national rivals, Shim Hui Jeong and Kim Kyung Min at the Final Selection Tournament which was the South Korean National Olympic Qualifier. Im Ae Ji eliminated Nepal’s Minu Gurung and India’s two-time AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion Sakshi Choudhary at the Asian & Oceanian Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event in Amman in March 2020. Her semi-final place and finally the bronze medal delivered for Im a spot for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Personal biography
Name: Im Ae Ji
Country : South Korea
Gender : Woman
Date of birth : 11/05/1999
Height : 164cm
Weight category : 57kg
Residence : Hwasun County
Stance : Southpaw
Best achievements:
2020 – Asian & Oceanian Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event (Amman, JOR) – Bronze
2019 – South Korean National Final Selection Tournament – Gold
2019 – ASBC Asian Women’s Boxing Championships (Bangkok, THA) – 9th place
2018 – AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships (New Delhi, IND) – 9th place
2018 – Jakarta 2018 Asian Games (Jakarta, INA) – 5th place
2017 – AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships (Guwahati, IND) – Gold

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