Jo In-cheol from Yongsei University was actually an incredibly talented judoka

Since Jo In-cheol's rivals were combat sports names like Yoon Dong-sik and Choo Sung-hoon,
whenever a video of him pops up, he's mostly remembered as the athlete who blocked their paths.
But in terms of judo itself, he was an incredibly talented athlete.
Olympic Bronze in '96 and '00
World Championships Gold in '97 and '01
Asian Games Gold in '98
Asian Championships Gold in '95
Looking at his career alone, he is top-tier even among judo legends.
Competing in the extremely competitive 78kg and 81kg weight classes, he is a rare domestic athlete
who maintained a high peak for a long time.
If he only had an Olympic gold, he would have been the first Grand Slammer before Lee Won-hee.
During Jo In-cheol's era, the World Championships were held only once every two years, so winning twice is quite remarkable.
To win twice at the World Championships, where the difficulty is said to be higher than the Olympics, means he was truly exceptional.
Jeon Ki-young holds the record with 3 titles, followed by Kim Jae-yeob, Jo In-cheol, and Kim Jae-beom with 2 titles.
Even Lee Won-hee and Choi Min-ho have only won the World Championships once.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he achieved everything except for an Olympic gold medal.