An Baul

Before transitioning to senior level, An was a noted junior judoka, where he was also junior World Champion. He is known for his tactical style of fighting and versatile seoi nage. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the world (as of 30 May 2016).

At the 2016 Olympics, An won a silver medal in the men's 66 kg.

An won his second national title and successfully qualified for the 2016 Olympics as Korea's half-lightweight representative. He successfully qualified as the number one ranked half-lightweight fighter in both the world and Olympic qualification rankings, and as the national tournament winner. He defeated his opponent in the final with sankaku jime for ippon. Tipped to be the one to beat for gold at Rio, An has said, “I’m obviously one of the best-ranked judokas in the world... people are expecting a lot of me. I wouldn’t say that I’m not feeling the pressure, but I do feel very proud to be part of the national team.”

An faced lesser known Fabio Basile in the final. Basile had been playing ippon judo throughout the tournament, but was considered a surprise finalist. However, An and Basile had contested in the past, notably at the 2016 Paris Grand Slam. In just over a minute, Basile had scored ippon against An with the latter's signature skill, seoi nage. This would result in Korea's second medal in judo after Jeong Bo-kyeong's silver in the extra-lightweights. There would then be numerous media coverage about Basile causing one of the biggest upsets in Olympic judo as An was the world champion, world number one and heavy favourite to win the title.

After winning his first national title at the 2015 KJA National Championships, An was chosen to compete for Korea in his first senior World Championships in Astana. He came in ranked number 20.

An also represented Korea in the team competition as the under 66 kg fighter. Korea battled against France in the third round, and An won against Larose, contributing to Korea's 5–0 win. In the quarter-final against Russia, An defeated Galstyan and Korea won 4–1, only losing in the half-middleweight bout. Korea was up against Georgia in the semi-final, and An beat long time rival Tomorkhuleg to set the tone for Korea. Korea won 4–1 again, with world champion Gwak supposedly losing on purpose to save energy for the final.

Korea had a much anticipated all-Asian final against defending champions Japan. The final featured reigning and former world champions across five weight divisions, namely An and Gwak for Korea, and Ebinuma, Riki Nakaya, Takanori Nagase and Ryunosuke Haga for Japan. An versus Ebinuma in the opening fight, and surprisingly lost by shido, alarming the Koreans. An Chang-rim managed to get the Koreans back by defeating Nakaya with a drop seoi nage effort, initially scoring waza-ari, then re-scored to ippon. Korea eventually lost 3–2, earning An Baul a silver, and his second medal of the tournament.

An faced a challenge in Rishod Sobirov in the quarter-final. Both of them were penalised with shido for defensive posture in the beginning of the bout, and An sealed his place in the semi-finals with a seoi nage for waza-ari. His fight against long-time rival Masashi Ebinuma of Japan was reminiscent of the Japanese bout at the 2012 Olympics against An's countryman and coaching staff Cho Jun-ho.

An transitioned from cadet to junior level at the 2011 World Junior Championships in Cape Town. It was his first time competing in the extra-lightweight category. He won his first four fights to book a final against future senior World Champion Naohisa Takato. An lost and had to settle for the silver medal.

An Baul (Hangul: 안바울, Korean pronunciation: [an.ba.ul] ; born 25 March 1994) is a South Korean judoka.