Kim Yeon-koung (Korean: 김연경; Hanja: 金軟景; RR: Kim Yeon-gyeong, Korean pronunciation:[kim.jʌngjʌŋ]; born 26 February 1988) is a South Korean professional volleyball player and a former member of the FIVB Athletes' Commission. She is an outside hitter and the former captain of the South Korean National Team. She announced her retirement from the national team in August 2021.[8]
Kim signed a three-year contract with Fenerbahçe in 2011 after playing for Heungkuk Life in South Korea for four seasons and JT Marvelous in Japan for two seasons. She signed another two-year extension with Fenerbahçe and extended it for another season in 2016. She spent the 2017–18 season in the Chinese Volleyball league and came back to Turkey in the following year with Eczacıbaşı VitrA.
Kim is the first player to have four entries in the list of those to have scored 30 points or more in a single Olympic Games match in volleyball.[11]
Career
Before professional debut (–2005)
Kim Yeon-Koung was born in Ansan and started volleyball in 4th grade, initially inspired by her oldest sister who was a volleyball player. In middle school, because she was less than 170 cm (5 ft 7 in), she considered quitting volleyball and becoming a soccer player. Fortunately, during her three years at Hanil Women's High School,[12] she grew more than 20 cm, and moved her position to an outsider hitter from her initial position of a setter and libero.
She received the spotlight of the Korean media due to her outstanding physical condition and performance in the high school stage. As a result, she was selected in the national team in 2005. She made her international debut at the World Grand Champions Cup, where she ranked as 3rd best scorer.[13] Afterwards, she was selected as the first choice in the first round of the V-League draft by the Cheonan Heungkuk Life, where she started her professional volleyball career.
Korean V-League (2005–2009)
Kim Yeon-Koung playing for Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders in the 2005–06 season.
During her first professional season, Kim contributed to Heungkuk Life becoming the champions of the Korean League. She received every award available, including the 'New Face Award', 'Regular Season MVP', 'Final Championship MVP', 'Best Scorer', 'Best Spiker', and 'Best Server'. However, she had to receive surgery in her right knee afterwards. Before fully recovering from the surgery, she participated in the 2006 World Championship and 2006 Asian Games. Mid-competition, she suffered from serious foot pain as an aftereffect of the surgery.[14]
Heungkuk Life became the reigning champion of the 2006–07 season with the help of Kim. The team achieved the feat of being 1st place in the regular season and winning the finals for two years in a row. Kim was selected as the MVP for both the regular season and championship and was also the best spiker of the regular season. Immediately afterward, she again received articular cartilage surgery. After a few months of recovery, she participated in the World Cup and played full-time.
While she contributed to her team finishing 1st place in the 2007–08 regular season, thus receiving the MVP, her team was defeated by GS Caltex in the finals. She finished the season with the highest success rate yet of 47.59%, becoming the best spiker of the league for three consecutive seasons. She received another knee surgery soon after, forcing her to miss the Olympic Qualification for the Beijing Olympics. South Korea was not qualified as a result.
In the 2008–09 season, she became the first female player of the Korean V-League with the record of scoring 2000 points and 2000 attack points. Despite her ground-breaking performance, Heungkuk Life had a difficult season with the replacement of head coach Hyeon-Ju Hwang [ko], finishing 3rd for the regular season. However, the team had a successful post-season performance and won the final championship against GS Caltex. Kim's outstanding performance led to her claiming her third MVP title.
Japanese V.Premier League (2009–2011)
Kim signed a contract to play overseas in the Japanese V.Premier League with JT Marvelous, becoming South Korea's first professional volleyball player to play overseas after KOVO was founded in 2005. Heungkuk Life and JT Marvelous agreed on a two-year loan agreement for the player with the possibility of a one-year extension negotiated after the first season.[15]
"We had been discussing a move for her since last year. We didn't think about Italy, but we contacted three other Japanese teams, including Toray Arrows, last season's champion," the Pink Spiders official Kim Hyun-do said at press conference. "JT Marvelous failed to find good import players last season, so it was the most active team seeking to sign Kim. In addition, the Marvelous promised that it will support her bid to play for Korea's national team. Though we can't announce her annual salary, the deal is worth more than $300,000," added the official.
With Kim as the main attacking weapon of the team, JT, which were ninth out of 10 teams in the previous season, achieved a miraculous record in the 2009–10 regular season [ja] with a winning streak for 25 games, which is second highest record after NEC Red Rockets's 31 winning streak in 2001. Kim was best scorer of the regular season with 696 points in total, leading JT to end first place in the regular season. In the championship final, the team suffered a stunning loss against Toray Arrows.[16] Kim was voted for the 'Fighting Spirit Award' and 'Best 6'.
During the off-season, Kim participated in the KOVO Cup in August as she was still registered for Heungkuk Life, and she led the team to victory as MVP. In September, she was part of the national team roster during the 2010 Asian Cup and became best scorer and best spiker of the tournament. Then she played at the 2010 World Championship where the team finished 13th place and 2010 Asian Games, winning a silver medal, the first medal in her career.
Despite Heungkuk Life's faltering results since Kim left, the team agreed on a loan deal with JT to let Kim play for another year, guaranteeing top-level treatment.[17] She again led her team to becoming first place of 2010–11 regular season [ja]. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, V.Premier League ended early. JT Marvelous assumed the champion title as a result and Kim was named MVP and 'Best 6'. JT Marvelous also became the champions of the Kurowashiki Tournament, and Kim was again voted as 'Best 6'. She then participated in the Grand Prix, Asian Championship, and World Cup. She was the best scorer and best spiker of the 2011 Asian Championship.
Contract dispute with Heungkuk Life
After the 2012 London Olympics, Kim had a dispute over her Free Agent Status with her previous Korean team Heungkuk Life. Kim and her agency claimed that she was a free agent, while Heungkuk claimed that she was still tied to the club as a player on loan, citing that she played in the Korean League for four seasons, two seasons short of the qualification as stipulated by the Korea Volleyball Association regulations. Kim countered that she had completed all six seasons with Heungkuk, noting that she played four seasons in Korea, two on loan at JT Marvelous and one on loan at Fenerbahçe.[18]
Despite repeated attempts, the two sides failed to come to an agreement on Kim's status. Another spark started in 2013 when Heungkuk sent the official document explaining the issues between Kim and the team to the association, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Sports Council and Korean Volleyball Federation. In that document, Heungkuk accused Kim of mispresenting the truth and using false arguments.
" Kim and her agent asked some politicians to change the rules relaying on her fans. When that didn't work well, she insisted that she was a FA player by mentioning FIVB rules. She'd better stop abusing her popularity and thinking of herself as a privileged player. She should try to solve this problem under the right principles and rules as soon as possible."[19]
Kim and her agent hit back by saying the document had libelous statements and called it improper while both sides were still trying to solve the problem. They also explained that her contract with Heungkuk was terminated on 30 June 2012.
"So she freely signed the contract with Fenerbahce on July 6, 2012. If she really broke the rules in July last year, KVA and KOVO must hold a committee meeting to determine punishment and announce the result. But Heungkuk solely sent the document condemning her to official organizations without following the correct procedures. She didn't extend her contract with Heungkuk because she didn't want to belong to them anymore. I wonder on what legal basis Heungkuk can claim Kim is on the team like their own property."
At a news conference, Kim threatened to retire from the national team if her questions were not answered. Kim made three major demands for Heungkuk, KVA and KOVO: to inquire anew to FIVB whether she has a team she originally belongs to; answer her request for issuance of an agreement of consent on her international transfer she submitted; and answer her appeal against the July 2 public disclosure of her as a "player who randomly bolted her team."
"If I don't receive specific answers to my appeals to the Korea Volleyball Association and the Korea Volleyball Federation, I will not only end my career in the domestic professional league but also retire from the national team."[20]
On September 6, 2013, FIVB sent documents with its final decision on the issue to KVA, Heungkuk, Fenerbahçe and the Turkish Federation. The essence of the decision is the following:[21]
The Korean Club is the Player's Club of Origin for the 2013/2014 season.
The total amount of transfer fee(s) in favor of the Korean Club and the KVA for the transfer of the Player to the Turkish Club for the 2013/2014 season shall not exceed EUR 228,750. The Player's transfer to the Turkish Club shall not be subject to any other or further restrictions of any kind.
After the 2013/2014 season the Player shall be deemed to have no Club of Origin, unless a valid employment contract is signed between the Player and any Korean Club in accordance with the FIVB Regulations.
FIVB explained that a local free agent rule of KOVO can not be applied to an international transfer, and in the case of the latter, FIVB regulations should be respected. If a Korean club has no proper contract with a specific expiration date, a player can freely sign with other clubs abroad regardless of free agent status. Heungkuk protested this decision, saying Fenerbahçe had lobbied FIVB to decide in favor of them. Kim's agency Inspokorea hit back on the alleged unofficial lobbying in a statement, urging Heungkuk to respect FIVB's decision.[22]
Fenerbahçe (2011–2017)
José Roberto Guimarães persuaded the team president to bring Kim to Fenerbahçe for the 2011-12 season [tr]. He later recalls that he saw potential in her to become "one of the best players in the world" despite being relatively unknown in Europe.[23]
She showed a phenomenal performance in her first season playing in Europe, as she helped Fenerbahçe claim their first CEV Champions League champion title. She was awarded best scorer and MVP of the tournament, and was first in both serving and attacking as well.[24][25]
According to FIVB, she was regarded as the best volleyball player in the world by multiple journalists and coaches alike. One of the journalists asked Kim's opinion on who she considered second best after herself, who is "considered the best attacker in the world."[27] At London 2012, she continued her ground-breaking performance. During the game against Serbia, Kim scored 34 points single-handedly, while her teammates scored 36 points in total. Zoran Terzić reflected that the team had "a lot of problems to make blocks and defend against her," who is "one of the best players in the world, no doubts about it."[28]
For the rest of the tournament, she continued her scoring streak, showing notable performances in the game against Brazil in the preliminary round where Korea won 3–0, and semi-finals against Italy where Korea won 3–1. Korea lost to Japan in the final Bronze Medal Match, despite Kim scoring 22 points with a 47.22% efficiency rate. She was selected as Most Valuable Player of the tournament, becoming the 3rd MVP with no medal after Cintha Boersma and Barbara Jelic. After being named as the MVP of the 2012 London Olympics, Kim was also selected as one of the FIVB Heroes, which is an official campaign of the FIVB to raise awareness about the players' athletic achievements and to increase the worldwide interest in the sport.
Kim had a difficult time in the 2012–13 season due to her dispute with former team Heungkuk Life and her physical injuries. She decided not to have surgery for her right knee after tearing her meniscus during the match against Brazil in the Olympics. Despite such hardships, she was at the top of the statistical leaderboard in terms of scoring, attacking, and serving in the 2013 CEV Cup, continuing to show top performance. The team ultimately lost against Muszyna in the finals. Fenerbahçe finished 4th place for the Turkish League as well, and this became the only season of Kim's professional volleyball life where she finished without winning a single cup. She then participated in the 2013 Asian Championship where she was best scorer and best server.
In the 2014 World Grand Prix, Kim topped the best score record of the tournament by scoring 42 points in the game against Russia, where South Korea won 3–1. During this tournament, Giovanni Guidetti hailed Kim as the world's best.
"I think Kim Yeon-koung is the best player in the world. I have not seen anyone like her in the last 30 years."[29]
In 2016, Kim was selected as a member of the FIVB Athletes' Commission,[30] which is a group that works as a "link between volleyball players and FIVB". According to FIVB, Kim, being an "MVP at the 2012 London Olympic Game, is a fan's favourite all around the world," thus confirmed by the organization as a member of the Athletes Commission.[31]
"Kim Yeon-koung is something special. I have never seen anything like that in my 20 years in volleyball. We all know she is special, but that was really something."[32]
Kim was selected as best outside spiker of the tournament. At the actual Olympic Tournament two months later, the team finished in 5th place after losing to the Netherlands in the semi-finals. Contrary to her original plans of quitting the National Team after Rio, she said in an interview that she was willing to continue until Tokyo 2020.
Chinese Super League (2017–2018)
Kim ended her contract with Fenerbahçe where she had spent the past six seasons, and moved to Shanghai. She led Shanghai to first place for the 2017–18 regular season, a feat achieved in 17 years for the team. After finishing runners-up in the finals, she received the Best Foreign Player Award.
Eczacıbaşı (2018–2020)
After one year in the Chinese League, she returned to Turkey and made a two-year contract with Eczacıbaşı. The team won the Turkish Cup for the first time in seven years, as well as the Super Cup. For the 2019–20 season, she became the new captain of Eczacıbaşı, filling in Jordan Larson's place.[33]
Kim played a decisive role in securing a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Asian Continental Qualifiers held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The exhaustion built up from the Turkish League had led to abdominal pain during the match against Kazakhstan in the pool stage. She was diagnosed with a torn abdominal muscle and missed the semifinal match against Chinese Taipei. However, the captain reappeared in the final match against Thailand and was brilliant in the win that secured a Tokyo berth to her team. After the game, she admitted that she did not feel well and that she played after previously taking painkillers.[34]
After Kim's contract ended with Eczacıbaşı, various media sources reported on the possibility of her going to Beijing, or returning to Korea in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[35]
V-League (2021)
In 2021, Kim Yeon-kyung signed a contract with Shanghai, China, where she shared the 2017–2018 season.[36]
Player profile
Kim is considered to be the best player of Korea since playing for the National Team since 2005, topping the score and attack statistics leaderboard in almost every single game. It is a known tactic among coaches to only focus on stopping Kim when playing against Korea, as she is their main and almost only scorer.
José Roberto Guimarães: Kim Yeon-koung is one of the best spikers in the world. It's very difficult to stop her. She's a wonderful player.[37]
José Roberto Guimarães: She is a player who understands the game. She helps others. Although she is the best attacker in the world, the most complete, she is not arrogant. She is a player who is a team. She gets along with everyone, everyone likes it. It must be good to play with her. [38]
Zoran Terzić: We focused only on blocking Kim Yeon-Koung and cared less about the other aspects.[39]
Giovanni Guidetti: She scores like a diagonal, she receives, digs like a libero, she serves like a machine, she blocks like a middle blocker and what's more important is that she gives incredible energy to her teammates. She is really something extraordinary.[40]
Giovanni Guidetti: Body of Russia, power of United States, the technique like Korean and quickness of Brazil all in one player. She is the best player in the world for sure.[41]
Massimo Barbolini: Obviously with a player like Kim, number 10, who is one of the best players in the world(...)[42]
Lang Ping: The Korean team is also worth noticing thanks to the existence of Kim Yeon-Koung. The whole team plays well and Kim makes them even stronger. I think now she is already one of the best hitters in the world and she can also boost her teammates’ performance on the court. As an Asian player, she has had very successful spells in the Turkish League. That’s not easy, because the European players are physically stronger than the Asians. But Kim made it, and I think her experience in Europe demonstrated how strong she is.[43]
Stefano Lavarini: There are great players and great leaders. Kim is all in one. She’s one of the best outside hitters in the world and also a really charismatic leader. All the players believe in her and she believes in what they can accomplish and takes them to places they don’t expect to reach.[44]
Injuries
Kim has suffered from various injuries throughout her athletic career and has had four knee surgeries alone during 2006 to 2009 while playing for Heungkuk Life.
In 2012, she tore her right meniscus during the preliminary game against Brazil during the 2012 London Olympics which was worsened when failing to land properly during the quarterfinals against Italy. Ahead of the 2012–2013 season, Kim decided to push through with only rehabilitation and not receive surgery despite various health checks that advised her to.[45]
In 2014, Kim broke her toenail whilst training, forcing her to miss a game against Eczacibasi VitrA ahead of playing the 100th game for Fenerbahce.[46]
In 2020, during the game against Kazakhstan in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, she suffered from an abdominal injury.[47] After receiving treatment from a local hospital, she played during the finals against Head Coach Stefano Lavarini's advice. Due to a worsened injury, she has to miss at least a month of the 2019–2020 season playing for Eczacibasi due to rehabilitation.[48]
In 2021, during the second game against Hwaseong IBK Altos, she sustained a thumb injury on her right hand while blocking but continued to play after receiving treatment. During the third game against Hwaseong IBK Altos, Coach Park Mihee of Pink Spiders' said in a pre-match interview that Kim herself decided to play with a taped hand. She also played with a taped hand in the championship game against GS Caltex Seoul KIXX.[49]
Personal life
Youth sports academy
She is dedicated in youth sports development and runs a sports academy and multiple charity activities under her name. "I wanted to give back all the goodness that volleyball has given me. As time went by, I realized the importance of youth sports, since children who participate in sports activities become more sociable and healthy individuals," she said.[50]
Social media
Kim created her YouTube channel on the 14th of July 2019 where she frequently posts videos to share her daily life with her fans. As of October 2021, Kim has over 1,400,000 subscribers with over 75 million views.
Kim is the first volleyball player to achieve more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube.[51]
Kim also currently has over one million followers on Instagram, making her one of the most followed volleyball players in the whole world.[52]
^"Best Players". World Grand Champions Cup. FIVB. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^女배구 김연경, "병원갈 시간도 없어요" [Women's Volleyball Kim Yeon-koung, "I don't even have time to go to the hospital."] (in Korean). 30 November 2006. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
^""Filha" de Zé, amiga de Fabiana: Kim, a arma da Coreia no caminho do Brasil" [Zé's "daughter", Fabiana's friend: Kim, the Korean weapon on the way to Brazil] (in Portuguese). globoesporte. 12 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019. No primeiro ano de Fenerbahçe, eu não montei o time. Mas, no segundo ano, o presidente do time me deu a possibilidade de chamar as jogadoras que eu gostaria de trabalhar. A Kim estava atuando há três anos no Japão. E eu sempre tive vontade de trabalhar com ela. Pensei: "Vou tentar trazê-la para cá". Falei da Kim para ele, disse que era uma jogadora "assim assim", 1,90m, ponteira, passa bem, uma jogadora completa. Disse que essa menina poderia se transformar em uma das melhores do mundo.
^"Player Ranking". 2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women. FIVB. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
^"L'ADVERSAIRE Le Fener, constellation d'étoiles" [THE ADVERSARY The Fener, constellation of stars] (in French). 25 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019. La jeune Sud- Coréenne de vingt- quatre ans est capable de réaliser des séquences absolument hallucinantes, en réception comme en attaque. « C'est la future Michael Jordan de notre sport ! », ose même pronostiquer l'ancien volleyeur Alexandre Jiochvili, qui a pourtant vu de nombreux talents s'opposer à sa femme, Victoria Ravva, depuis une quinzaine d'années.
^"STATISTICS OF PLAYERS". 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
^"STATISTICS OF PLAYERS". 2019 FIVB Club World Championship. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
^Kim, Hyun-sook (20 September 2022). "김연경·아이키 뭉친 '막내가 사는 세상'…내일 첫방" [The world where the youngest lives' with Kim Yeon-kyung and Aiki first room tomorrow] (in Korean). Newsis. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022 – via Naver.
^Park, Jeong-sun (11 August 2021). 김연경 출연한 송강호 주연작 '1승' 화제..'김연경 효과 [Song Kang-ho, starring Kim Yeon-kyung, is a hot topic in 'One Win'...'Kim Yeon-kyung Effect]. JTBC (in Korean). Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via Naver.
^Moon Ji-yeon (6 July 2022). "[공식] 유재석, 정효민 PD와 재회→김연경 호흡..'코리아 넘버원' 공개" [[Official] Yoo Jae-seok and Jung Hyo-min PD reunion → Kim Yeon-kyung breathing.. 'Korea No. 1' released] (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022 – via Naver.
^Jung Seo-hee (29 October 2022). "이광수X김연경, 이렇게 닮았다니…유재석 "남매인 줄"('코리아 넘버원')" [Lee Kwang-soo X Kim Yeon-kyung, look alike like this... Yoo Jae-suk "I think they are siblings" ('Korea Number One')] (in Korean). Spots TV News. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022 – via Naver.
^Yang So-young (19 July 2023). 박재찬 김연경 차은우 이광수 인기스타상 “귀한 상, 영광”[청룡시리즈어워즈] [Park Jae-chan Kim Yeon-kyung Cha Eun-woo Lee Kwang-soo Popular Star Award “Precious Award, Glory” [Blue Dragon Series Awards]]. MK (in Korean). Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023 – via Naver.
^Lee Min-ji (27 December 2021). 임영웅→투모로우바이투게더, 2022 대한민국 퍼스트브랜드 대상 [Lim Young-woong → Tomorrow by Together, 2022 Korea's First Brand Grand Prize]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021 – via Naver.
^Kim, Yeon-koung (15 September 2016). 아직 끝이 아니다. 가연. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
^Lim, Ji-Hyung (30 April 2018). 아직 끝이 아니다. 가연. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
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