Kim Yeon-koung

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 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.

In 2020, during the game against Kazakhstan in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, she suffered from a abdominal injury. 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.

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.

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 in 7 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.

“Kim and her agent asked some politicians to change the rules relaying on her fans. When that didn’t work well, she insists that she’s a FA player 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."

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 170cm (5'7"), she considered quitting volleyball and becoming a soccer player. Fortunately, during her three years at Hanil Women's High School, she grew more than 20cm, and moved her position to an outsider hitter from her initial position of a setter and libero.

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.

In 2016, Kim was selected as a member of the FIVB Athletes' Commission, which is a group that works as a "link between volleyball players and FIVB". According to FIVB , Kim, being a "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.

During the 2016 Olympic World Qualification Tournament, Kim showed outstanding performance against Netherlands, helping Korea win 3-0. Netherlands head coach Giovanni Guidetti was left in awe, just like two years ago.

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.

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.

Despite repeated attempts, the two sides failed to come to an agreement regarding Kim's status. Another spark started in 2013 when Heungkuk Life sent the official document explaining the issues between Kim and the team to Korea Volleyball Association (KVA), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), Korea Sports Council (KSC) and Korean Volleyball federation (KOVO). In that document, Heungkuk Life said Kim has been misleading the truth and claiming false arguments.

On September 6th, 2013, FIVB sent the documents which contains their final decision about this issue to KVA, Heungkuk Life, Fenerbahçe, and Turkish Federation. The whole content of documents are not allowed to open unless FIVB’s prior approval. The essence of the decision is following:

Kim was the Most Valuable Player and Best Scorer of the 2012 London Olympics, despite South Korea finishing 4th place. She holds the Olympics records for highest score of 207 points in eight games, topping Gamova's record of 204 points in 2004 Athens.

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." 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."

For the rest of the tournament, she continued her scoring streak, especially showing notable performance 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 claimer 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 top of the statistical leaderboard in terms of scoring, attacking, and serving in the 2013 CEV Cup, continuing to show top performance. Unfortunately, the team 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.

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 Life 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 free agency qualification as stipulated by the local association regulations. Kim countered that she had completed all six seasons with Heungkuk Life, noting that she played four seasons in Korea, two years on loan at JT Marvelous and one year on loan at Fenerbahçe.

Kim and her agent refuted Heungkuk Life’s theory. Kim said that the document included libelous statements. They emphasized this document wasn’t proper while both sides were still trying to solve the problem. They also explained that her contract with Heungkuk Life was terminated in June 30th, 2012.

“So she freely signed the contract with Fenerbahce on July 6th 2012. If she really broke the rules last July, KVA and KOVO must hold a committee meeting to determine punishment and announce the result. But Heungkuk Life solely sent the document condemning her to official organizations without following the correct procedures. She didn’t extent her contract with Heungkuk Life because she didn’t want to belong to them anymore. I wonder on what legal basis Heungkuk Life can claim Kim is in Heungkuk Life like their own property.”

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.

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 anonther season in 2016. She spent the 2017–18 season in the Chinese Volleyball league, and came back to Turkey for the in the following year with Eczacıbaşı VitrA.

José Roberto Guimarães persuaded the team president to bring Kim to Fenerbahçe for the 2011-12 season. 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.

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. She again led her team to becoming first place of 2010–11 regular season. 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.

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 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. Kim was voted for the 'Fighting Spirit Award' and 'Best 6'.

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, 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 to claiming her third MVP title.

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 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.

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 full recovering from the surgery, she participated in the 2006 World Championship and 2006 Asian Games. Mid-competition, she suffered from serious feet pain as an aftereffect of the surgery.

Heungkuk Life became the reigning champion of the 2006–07 season with the hlep 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 afterwards, she again received articular cartilage surgery. After a few months of recovery, she participated in the World Cup and played full-time.

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.

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. Afterwards, she was selected as first choice in the first round of the V-League draft by the Cheonan Heungkuk Life, where she started her professional volleyball career.

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.

Kim is considered to be the best player of the Korean 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.

Kim Yeon-koung (Korean: 김연경 ; Hanja: 金軟景 ; RR: Kim Yeon-gyeong, Korean pronunciation: [kim.jʌngjʌŋ] ; born 26 February 1988 in Ansan) is a South Korean female professional volleyball player and a member of the FIVB Athletes' Commission. She is the outside hitter and captain of the South Korean National Team, and currently plays for Eczacıbaşı VitrA.