Kim Il is one of meritoriousathletes who grew up to be a wrestler in the embrace of Chairman Kim Jong Iland exalted the honour of Juche Korea in many international tournaments.

He was known to have a goodbrain in his childhood and possessed full sporting capacity as a reserve wrestler.He won the wrestling event of the national sports games of juvenile extracurricularsports schools (at the time) two years after he began to receive training.

Later, he started his playingcareer at the Amnokgang Sports Club and made a brilliant figure as a wrestling starin many domestic and international events under the loving care of the Workers’Party of Korea.

In particular, he came firstby overpowering all his opponents at the world youth freestyle wrestling championships in July Juche 80(1991) and in the48 kg category of the Asian freestyle wrestling championships held in Iran in AprilJuche 81(1992).

His next target was theOlympic gold medal.

He thought that it was thegreatest gift to be presented to the motherland which brought him up and put himforward to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, and trained hard. As aresult, he won the 48 kg category of freestyle wrestling at the 25th OlympicGames held in Barcelona, Spain, in July Juche 81(1992), and earned his firstOlympic gold medal.

Chairman Kim Jong Il praisedhim highly for demonstrating the dignity and honour of Juche Korea in the 25thOlympic Games and showed love for him, which would be handed down through generations.

He also ensured that goldmedallists in the 25th Olympic Games were honoured to meet PresidentKim Il Sung on December 31 Juche 81(1992).

Without resting on hislaurels, Kim Il trained harder and achieved phenomenal success of becoming a three-timeAsian freestyle wrestling champion by winning at various international eventsincluding the Gobi Prize Asian freestyle wrestling championships in Mongolia inJuche 82(1993).

Not content with it, he set anambitious goal to win the secondOlympic gold medal.

He was awarded a gold medalagain in the 26th Olympic Games held in Atlanta, the United States,in July Juche 85(1996), thereby hoisting the DPRK flag on the American soil andfully displaying the dignity and honour of Juche Korea once again.

He is now leading a worthwhile life in the spirit and enthusiasm he had displayedin the prime of youth to repay the loving care of the Party that put him, theson of an ordinary worker, forward as Labour Hero and People’s Athlete, invitedhim to national events including the Seventh National Conference of Sportspersons and presented him with gifts tobe handed down through generations.