Lee Bong Ju is a South Korean Olympic medalist and retired marathoner. He graduated from Gwangcheon High School and later obtained a bachelor's degree in Trade from the University of Seoul. Since his youth, he was always attracted by the track and field events and discovered that he was a good long distance runner. In 1991 he won the National Sports Festival marathon and immediately drew the attention of sport experts as they felt he could be the successor of former marathoners Son Ki Jeong and Hwang Yeong Jo. In 1996 he competed as part of the South Korean track and field team in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta and surprised many by winning the silver medal in the marathon. He then competed in 3 more Olympics in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 but could not finish higher than 14th. In 2001 he won the Boston Marathon and won consecutive gold medals at the 1998 and 2002 Asian Games. In 2009 he won the National Sports Festival marathon and decided to retire. He has appeared on several TV shows since then but, in 2019, he suffered an injury as a cast member of "Let's Play Soccer" and he has not fully recovered so his appearances have decreased.

(Source: Korean = Namu Wiki || Translation = kisskh) Edit Biography