Lim O-kyeong

At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she was part of the South Korea national team which won the gold medal. She played all five matches and scored 30 goals.^[1][2]

In 1994 she moved to Japan to play for the Hiroshima Maple Reds. In 1996 she became a player-manager and led her team to a Japan Handball League championship.

In 1995 she was part of the South Korea team that won the 1995 World Championship.^[3] This was the first time a non-European team won the title, and as of 2026 the only Asian team to do so. She was named as part of the all-star team for the tournament.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, she won the silver medal as member of the South Korean team. She played all five matches and scored 41 goals.^[1]

Lim was voted World Handball Player of the Year 1996^[4][5] by the International Handball Federation.

In 2004, she won the silver medal again at the Athens Olympics, losing to Denmark in the final on a penalty shoot out.^[6] At the competition she played all seven matches and scored 14 goals.^[1]

In July 2008 she was hired as Seoul City Hall Handball Club's player-manager becoming the first woman to coach a professional Ball game team in South Korea.^[7]

She completed her tertiary education at Korea National Sport University in Seoul for undergraduate, master's and doctorate degrees.^[8]

She previously served as a Korean Sport & Olympic Committee board member and as a non-executive director of the government-funded Korea Sports Promotion Foundation.^[8]

In preparation for the 2020 general election, she was approached and recruited by the ruling Democratic Party. She stated that her decision to join the political party was inspired by President Moon Jae-in.^[7]

• Order of Sports Merit by the government of South Korea (1992)^[8]
• IHF World Player of the Year 1996^[4]