Rim Ju-song

Rim Ju-song (born 31 October 1995[1]) is a North Korean swimmer.[2] He was selected to be North Korea's sole representative for the country's first ever participation in the Paralympic Games, at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.[3]

Rim Ju-song
Chosŏn'gŭl
림주성
Hancha
林柱成
Revised RomanizationIm Juseong
McCune–ReischauerRim Chusŏng
This is a Korean name; the family name is Rim.

At the time when he was selected, he was living in Beijing. By the time North Korea received clearance to compete in London, it was "too late to qualify for most events, but swimming was an exception". Thus North Korea's representative would have to be a swimmer. Rim, who did not know how to swim, began to learn the crawl stroke in April 2012, reportedly with great difficulty at first, and the breaststroke in May.[4]

Rim is a left arm and left leg amputee, and also suffers disability to his right leg and right foot, following "an accident on a construction site" at the age of five. He was able to make the Games upon receiving a wildcard invitation from the International Paralympic Committee, and with financial support from the British embassy in Pyongyang.[3] He competed in freestyle swimming in the S6 disability category.[1] His time in qualifying prior to the Games (disregarded as he was invited to the Games notwithstanding) was 1:10.00, i.e. 35.3 seconds slower than the slowest actual qualifier.[5]

References
  1. Rim Ju-song Archived 2012-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, 2012 London Summer Olympics official website
  2. "북한 림주성 수영선수, 런던장애인올림픽 출전 확정", Tongil News, 10 July 2012
  3. "Swimmer set to be first North Korean competitor at the Paralympic Games", The Independent, 5 July 2012
  4. "Paralympics 2012: Rim Ju Song, North Korea's First Paralympian, Inspires At Home", Associated Press, 28 August 2012
  5. "Men's 50m Freestyle - S6" Archived 2012-09-02 at the Wayback Machine, 2012 Official Website of the Paralympic Movement.
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