Won Myong Gyong, a wrestler of the Jangsan Sports Club, is honoured to be among the top ten DPRK athletes of 2025.
She claimed the women’s 50kg category title at the 2025 World Wrestling Championships held in Croatia in September last year.
In the semifinal she fought against a Japanese player, a red-hot favourite in the category who was holding the world championship and the thrice Asian championship since the 19th Asian Games. Won sustained a loss first but she undauntedly played offensively by applying effective and powerful techniques, eventually overpowering her opponent. She went on to win the final against a Chinese to hold the world championship.
Hailing from Chongjin City, North Hamgyong Province, Myong Gyong was strongly competitive and tenacious from her childhood. With unusual passion for sports, she began to learn the rudiments of wrestling in her middle school days.
Endowed with agility and flexibility, she caught the eye of a wrestling coach from the Jangsan Sports Club and was promoted to the club in Pyongyang. Under the tutelage of coach Kim Hak Won, she soon improved her skills and won the 34kg event at the then national juvenile championships in 2014, starting her successful performances at home. With an eye to Asian and world titles, she redoubled efforts and won the 40kg event at the then Asian youth wrestling championships in 2016, making her international debut successful. Unfortunately, however, she finished third at the Asian youth wrestling championships in 2019 and the Asian wrestling championships in 2025.
This setback made her realize that one or two fortes would not be enough to attain world supremacy. She trained harder to build up her physical capacity and acquire various techniques in keeping with the world trend of the wrestling development.
By employing her forte based on good footwork, she climbed the winner’s podium at the 2025 World Wrestling Championships.
Won also cruised to victory in the 50kg event at the International Freestyle Wrestling Tournament “Ivan Yarygin Cup” held in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk from January 29 to February 1 this year.
“I am going to defend my world championship. I’ll rise to the challenge,” said Won Myong Gyong.
Ham Kwang Hyok
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