Song Dae-nam

What stays with me about Song Dae-nam is the timing of his triumph. Winning Olympic middleweight gold in 2012 at 33 is no small thing in a sport that usually belongs to the young, and to me it reads as proof of stubborn, unglamorous persistence rather than raw talent alone. The fact that Korea then chose him as flagbearer for the closing ceremony tells you he earned respect off the mat as well as on it. I have a soft spot for late bloomers who quietly outlast their rivals, and his story from Yongin to the podium is exactly that kind of arc. A champion worth more attention than he gets.

Name (English)

Song Dae-nam

Name (Japanese)

宋大南

Reading

そん・でなむ

Born

April 5, 1979 (age 47)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Goat

Origin

Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Height

178 cm

Occupation

judoka

University

Cheongju University

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%8B%E5%A4%A7%E5%8D%97

Tags

• Gyeonggi Province
• judoka

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.