LONDON (Yonhap) -- Judoka Kim Jae-bum captured gold in the men's under-81-kilogram category at the London Olympics Tuesday.



At ExCeL Arena, Kim defeated Ole Bischof of Germany for his first Olympic gold in a rematch of the finals at the Beijing Olympics, avenging a close defeat from four years ago. It was South Korea's third gold medal in London.



The victory also completes judo's equivalent of a grand slam. Kim, 27, has now won the Olympics, the world championships, the Asian championships and the Asian Games at least once in his career. He's the second South Korean judoka to accomplish the feat after former Olympic champion Lee Won-hee in the men's under-73㎏ class.



In the gold medal bout, Kim picked up his first yuko, the smallest score in judo, 41 seconds into the match with ouchi-gari, or an inner-leg sweep. Kim earned his second and final yuko about a minute later with yet another leg sweep.



Kim's path to the finals was far from smooth. He beat Uzbekistan's Yakhyo Imamov with osoto-gari, or an outer reap, but progressed through to the semis on penalties against his opponents. Then in the semis, Kim needed seoi-nage, a dropping shoulder throw, to beat Ivan Nifontov of Russia.



After the match, Kim said he'd been dying to get his revenge on Bischof.



"I lost to him four years ago because I wasn't just good enough," Kim said. "Today, I came out to beat him."



Kim said he'd been in much pain in the buildup to the Olympics. He said his left side, all the way from the shoulder down to the elbow, fingers and the knee, have been hurt so badly that he couldn't even do proper sprints a day before the competition.



He said he didn't feel that great Tuesday morning, but the devout Christian looked upward for some encouragement.



"I prayed, 'Please let this be the day for me,'" Kim said. "Now that I've won the gold, I can't describe this feeling."



Along with Kim, Wang Ki-chun in the men's under-73kg had been tabbed as a gold medal favorite in London. But Wang crashed out of the semis and lost in the bronze medal match on Monday.



Kim said he was only focused on his own competition.



"(Wang's failure to win a medal earlier) didn't any add any extra pressure to win the gold," Kim said. "And accomplishing the grand slam is such a great honor."



Also on the judo mat Tuesday, Joung Da-woon came in fifth in the women's under-63㎏ category.



The unheralded Olympic rookie stunned the world No. 1 Yoshie Ueno in the quarterfinals, but fell to Xu Lili of China in the semis.



Then the 23-year-old Korean lost to Gevrise Emane of France in the bronze medal contest in a unanimous judges' decision.



이원희에 이어 두 번째 유도 '그랜드슬램' (런던=연합뉴스) 특별취재단 = 김재범(27·한국마사회)이 2012년 런던올림픽 남자 유도 81㎏급에서 '금빛 메치기'에 성공하며 한국 선수단에 세 번째 금메달을 선사했다. 김재범은 31일 오후(현지시간) 영국 런던의 엑셀 런던 노스아레나에서 열린 대회 남자 유도 81㎏급 결승에서 올레 비쇼프(독일·랭킹 5위)를 상대로 안다리걸기로 유효 2개를 빼앗아 유효승을 거뒀다. 2008년 베이징올림픽 결승에서 비쇼프에게 패해 은메달을 차지한 김재범은 4년 만에 런던올림픽 결승에서 비쇼프를 다시 만나 시원한 설욕전을 펼치며 천금같은 금메달을 목에 걸었다. 특히 81㎏급에서 아시아선수권대회(4회 우승), 아시안게임(2010년), 세계선수권대회(2회 우승)를 차례로 정복한 김재범은 올림픽 금메달을 추가, 한국선수로는 이원희(용인대 교수)에 이어 두 번째로 '그랜드슬램'(올림픽·세계선수권·아시아선수권·아시안게임 우승)의 위업을 달성했다. "4년 전 죽기 살기로 했는데 졌다. 그래서 이번에는 죽기로 하니 이기더라" 세계를 매친 김재범(27, 한국마사회)의 목소리에는 비장함이 묻어났다. 그만큼 승리를 염원했다. 부상도 금메달을 목에 거는 바람 앞에는 걸림돌 축에도 들지 못했다. 김재범의 몸은 종합병동이다. 왼쪽 무릎과 팔꿈치, 어깨 부상으로 왼팔은 움직이기도 어려운 상태였다. 잡기가 유도의 반인 상황에서 왼팔에 힘이 들어가지 않는 것은 치명타지만 김재범은 침착했다. 꼭 이기겠다는 의지와 한쪽 팔로도 이길 수 있다는 자신감이 힘이 됐다. 금메달까지 가는 데 판정승은 없었다. 한팔로도 쉴 새 없이 공격하는 '한팔'승의 사나이였다.