The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 19 | Friday, June 27, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Brothers hope to represent Canada in Olympic judo his lack of size. In British Columbia, where the Kim family lived until moving to Oakville Beaver Sports Editor two years ago, Daniel played rep hockey in atom and peewee. Once he reached banDaniel Kim lurched to one side, his right arm tam, however, coaches deemed him not big dangling lifelessly beside him, seeming as enough. It might have been a blessing in disguise, vulnerable as an injured young fawn. His shoulder had been bent in a direction allowing Kim to focus on just one sport. He is it wasn't designed to go, and he'd felt a tear- currently 24th in the International Judo Feding sensation in his elbow. Kim didn't know eration cadet (under-18) 50-kg world rankit yet, but he wouldn't be able to use his arm ings, a points system based on performances at major tournaments. He is one of only five properly for the next three months. fighters in the top 24 who have Then, suddenly, as if he forcompeted in just one event, exgot he had any ailment at all, cluding the continental chamthe then-12-year-old sprung pionships, this season. forward and wrapped both his Kim's goal isn't just to make arms around his opponent. the 2020 Olympics, it's to win This was an international judo when he gets there. He shrugs competition, after all, and Kim off the fact that no Canadian hadn't come all the way to has ever claimed Olympic gold Mexico just to give up. in judo. "You forget about injuries "When you go to the Olymand you just have to fight. It pics... you don't say `I finally doesn't matter if he's 6-foot-2 made the Olympics.' You go or 6-foot-3, it doesn't matter if there to win, to have somehe's 10 times bigger or 10 times thing to bring home," he said. older. You just fight," said Kim, Daniel Kim now 15, who wound up finishWorld-ranked judo athlete "What's the point of training all your life, just to come back ing second. with nothing?" "It's like if you're in a jungle Igor sees a lack of government funding -- with a lion. You eat, or you get eaten." which prevents Daniel from entering more Martial arts success runs in family international competitions -- as the biggest If Kim has the heart of a champion, he obstacle in his son's path. comes by it honestly. His father, Igor, won "I went to 12 tournaments (growing up). bronze in karate at the 1994 Asian Games We travelled all the time. Here, it's limited. It and was the Tajikistan national karate team depends on whether you can afford it," said head coach from 1991-96. Daniel's brother, Igor. 23-year-old Dmitri, won the Canadian 60-ki"It's here, in the heart," he added, tapping logram senior men's judo title last year and his chest. "It's training, it's physical condihopes to compete in the 2016 Olympic Sumtioning, but it's more mental. If you want it, mer Games in Rio de Janeiro. you get it. From my experience, I didn't have Daniel appears to be on a similar path. world-class coaching at the beginning. It was Earlier this year, the Holy Trinity high school always drive. Why can they do it and I can't Grade 10 student finished fifth in the 55-kg do it?" division at a World Cup judo event in Puerto Daniel views Igor as "an inspiration", but Rico, despite fighting competitors as old as Dmitri is his role model. In addition to Dmi21. He later won the 50-kg division at the tri's success in judo, he's also a graduate of the Pacific International in Richmond, B.C., and University of British Columbia who last year earned 50-kg silver at the Canadian under-18 completed a one-year medical internship in championships in Saguenay, Que. Japan where he understudied a prominent Kim also competed in the U21 division spinal surgeon. If judo teaches self-discipline at nationals, fighting in the 55-kg class. He and respect, Daniel clearly has more than one reached the bronze-medal round before teacher. breaking his finger and requiring medical at"My brother was in university 24-7 and tention, eventually finishing fifth overall. didn't miss one practice. He would do school, Kim clearly isn't intimidated by being the take a bus and then a train to his club, bus smaller fighter on the mat. Perhaps he's used back at night, have three hours of sleep and to it, having squared off with Dmitri many go back to school," said Daniel. times over the years. Then the sibling rivalry kicked back in. "I lost every time," Daniel said. "But I kept "2020 Olympics is my goal. I would be 21 trying." years old," Daniel said. Daniel, who now stands 5-foot-5, is also "I'll let my brother go to Rio." accustomed to being discredited because of by Jon Kuiperij It's like if you're in a jungle with a lion. You eat, or you get eaten. Dmitri Kim (left) and younger brother Daniel both hope to represent Canada in judo at future Olympic Summer Games. Dmitri, the Canadian senior men's 60-kilogram champion last year, has set his sights on Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Daniel, currently ranked 24th among under-18 fighters in the International Judo Federation's world rankings, is shooting for 2020. | photo by Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Thirteen-year-old wins national U16 bronze Daniel Kim wasn't the only Oakville resident to earn a medal at the national judo championships earlier this year. Joshua Creek Public School student Aidos Sapenov earned bronze in the under-16 38-kilogram division at allCanadians. Sapenov, 13, first began judo at Japanese Cultural Centre at the age of six. Two years later, in 2008, he was presented a Dylan Minemoto Cup award as the JCCC Judo Kai club's top junior competitor in tournaments. Aidos Sapenov | photo submitted Sapenov earned his blue belt this year.