Kim Dong-moon

Kim Dong-moon is a retired South Korean badminton player who won major titles between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s (decade), and widely regarded as one of finest men's doubles and mixed doubles players in badminton history. Kim captured the world attention when he unexpectedly winning the gold medal in the mixed doubles event with Gil Young-ah at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. On his path to greatness, he won gold medals both in men's and mixed doubles at the 1999 World Championships. Kim and Ra Kyung-min, partnered up to become one of the strongest mixed doubles pairings of that time. They did not drop a single match from April to November in 2003. They won 10 straight victorious tournaments - 9 consecutive Grand Prix events and one World Championship title. Their excellent results in 2003 earned Kim and Ra the Eddie Choong Player of the Year award. He captured this award previously by himself in 2002. Despite their domination, the golden couple crashed in the second round against the Danish partnership of Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kim however redeemed himself with a gold medal in men's doubles with Ha Tae-kwon. After the 2004 Olympics, Kim retired from playing and married his former mixed doubles partner, Ra in 2005. Kim is currently the only South Korean player to have ever won Olympic gold in both the men's and mixed doubles events. He was inducted into the BWF Hall of Fame in 2009.