Lee Dae-hoon

Lee attended Seoul Junggye Primary School, Hansung Middle School, and Hansung High School, and later majored in Taekwondo Instruction at Yong In University. He obtained a master's degree in Sports and Leisure Studies at Yonsei University.^[5]

In August 2023, Lee obtained a doctoral degree from Sejong University in his doctoral thesis, Development Direction of Taekwondo Performance through 4th Industrial Technology.^[6]

Lee grew up practicing martial arts at his father's taekwondo academy from the age of five.^[7]

Lee won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games,^[8] and repeated the feat at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.^[9]

Originally a bantamweight (under 63 kg), Lee temporarily went down in weight to flyweight (under 58 kg) after the 2011 World Championships in order to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where there were only four weight classes.^[7] Lee made his international flyweight debut at the 2011 World Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he had his first international loss to 2008 Summer Olympic silver medalist Gabriel Mercedes 14–12 in the semifinals. In May 2012, however, he captured his first flyweight gold medal at the 2012 Asian Taekwondo Championships, beating reigning Asian flyweight champion Pen-Ek Karaket 8–4 in the final bout.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Lee won a bronze medal after defeating Belgium's Jaouad Achab 11–7.^[10][11] A few months later, at the 2016 World Taekwondo Grand Prix, Lee won a gold medal after defeating Achab 5–4.^[12]

Lee's father, Lee Joo-Yeol, used to run his own taekwondo academy.

In 2021, Lee announced his retirement following the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[13]

In 2022, Lee was appointed as a commentator at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and the 2024 Olympic Games by broadcasting on MBC.^[14]

In March 2023, Lee was appointed as a coach of the Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall Taekwondo team.^[15] In May, he was appointed as a national team coach for the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.^[16] In June, he was elected to the World Taekwondo Athletes' Committee for the 2023–2027 term.^[17]

In 2024, Lee served as an adjunct professor at Sejong University,^[6] and in 2025, he was appointed as a full-time professor in the Department of Taekwondo at Dong-A University.^[18]

On March 4, 2026, USA Taekwondo announced the appointment of Lee as a national team coach. He will be based at the University of North Carolina at Charlotteas part of the Team USA staff and will work with U.S. athletes as the program builds toward the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The term runs through 2032, covering 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane.^[4]

In 2018, at the 56th Korea Sports Awards, Lee received the Cheongnyong Medal,^[19] the highest class of the Order of Sport Merit, which is awarded to individuals for outstanding achievements in sports.^[20]

Lee became engaged to his girlfriend in 2018,^[21] and they married on May 25, 2019.^[22] They have one son, Lee Ye-chan, who was born in November 2018.^[23]