(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Gyeong-yoon = Jeong Soo-jin (Yongin University), a national judo team member who was disqualified from the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games for failing to pass the weigh-in on the day of the match, posted a post on her social media on the 4th saying that she was unable to compete due to a mistake made by the national team leader.
Jeong Soo-jin said, "I passed the official weigh-in with difficulty, and even the morning weigh-in standard of 50.4kg was adjusted to the time of the draw by adjusting my food until the morning of the match. The results of the weigh-in draw came out on the morning of the match, and after the manager and coach checked, they informed me that only one male athlete from the same team was caught and that I was not subject to the weigh-in."
He said, "I lost a lot of weight, so I was told to eat slowly and recover quickly, so I believed them and prepared for the first match. So I consumed about 300g of porridge, 200g of bananas, and 600g of ionic drink to warm up."
He said, "But it was only then that I found out that I was subject to the weigh-in 15 minutes before the end of the morning weigh-in. From then on, I vomited everything I ate, cut my hair, kept running, and did my best to get my weight right until the last moment, but it was over 100g."
Jeong Soo-jin said, "I had no choice but to end the first Asian Games of my life, which I had prepared so earnestly for, with elimination at the weigh-in," and added, "As a national player, I am certainly responsible for not being able to directly check the results of the weigh-in draw, but it was a natural situation for the player to follow the leader's words as he has done so far."
He also revealed, "After this incident occurred, the coach was busy guiding the remaining players, leaving only the message that he would take responsibility after returning to Korea, and a lot of criticism was poured out on me. This morning, when I returned to Korea, the coach told me that only if it ends like this can it end quietly."
Jeong Soo-jin was eliminated after failing to pass the random weigh-in in the morning ahead of the round of 16 in the women's 48kg judo match against Aliya Muminova (Tajikistan) held at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan on the 30th of last month.
The allowable weighing limit is 5% of the weight class, and Su-jin Jeong, who is in the 48kg class, is allowed to weigh up to 50.4kg, but at the random weigh-in, she exceeded 100g.
Jeong Soo-jin is a promising star who won bronze medals two years in a row at the Junior Asian Championships held in 2024 and 2025, and was expected to win a medal at this competition as well.
In judo, after weighing in the day before, on the morning of the game, at least 1 hour before the start of the game, random winners are drawn and notified to team officials, and then the players are weighed.
An official from the Korea Judo Association said in a phone call with Yonhap News that day, "We have been made aware of the relevant information. The national team is scheduled to return to Korea on the 13th after the World Championships, and we plan to take appropriate action after re-identifying the truth through an internal evaluation meeting immediately after."
Jeong Sung-sook, the general manager of the national judo team, acknowledged in a phone call that “it was our mistake,” saying, “A situation that should not have happened occurred due to our mistake.”
He added, “I apologized to the player, and it appears that a misunderstanding occurred during the conversation.”
