The year he turned 13, in his first year at Maebong Middle School in Daejeon, he took up fencing following his older brother. In December 2014, in his third year at Songchon High School, he placed third at the national team trials and became the youngest sabre fencer to join the national team.
The year he turned 19, he made his international debut at the Padua World Cup in Italy and placed third. That autumn he also won the men’s senior sabre at the National Sports Festival. In 2016, he won the Gyor World Cup in Hungary, his first international gold.
In 2017, he won Korea’s first World Championships men’s sabre team title in Leipzig. In 2018, he won a second straight World Championships team title, then took silver in the individual event and gold in the team event at the Asian Games.
The year he turned 23, he won the individual title at the World Championships in Budapest and became world No. 1, and three days later won a third straight team title. In 2020, he received the Coca-Cola Sports Awards Most Valuable Player award. In 2021, he lost in the Tokyo Olympic individual quarterfinals and won his first Olympic gold in the team event four days later.
In 2022, he joined his hometown team, Daejeon City Hall, and won a fourth straight World Championships team title in Cairo. In 2023, he won both the individual and team events at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 28, he won the Olympic individual sabre title in Paris, giving the Korean team its first gold medal of the Games, and four days later won the team event to become the first fencer from Korea to win two golds at a single Games. He also joined the regular cast of a variety show that December.
In 2025, he sat out a season with the national team, came back in the autumn, won two titles at the National Sports Festival and took bronze at a World Cup event. In 2026, he won two golds at the Asian Championships and was named a men’s representative of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games team at its send-off ceremony.
Oh Sang-uk (born Sep 30, 1996) made his international debut at the Padua World Cup in Italy on Feb 2, 2015, the year he turned 19, and became known when he won the Olympic individual sabre title in Paris on Jul 28, 2024, the year he turned 28. Four days later he also won the team event, becoming the first Korean fencer to win two golds at a single Games.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Took up fencing following his older brother Oh Sang-min, who was on the Daejeon University fencing team. Attended Maebong Elementary and Middle Schools and Songchon High School before entering Daejeon University.
Source 01 · Kookmin Ilbo (Korean) · Fearless teenager Oh Sang-uk · opens in a new tabSource 38 · Daejeon Ilbo (Korean) · World No. 1 sabre fencer from Daejeon · opens in a new tabPlaced third at the December trials in his third year at Songchon High School and earned one of the eight places. Kookmin Ilbo reported he was the youngest member of the team and the first high school student on Korea’s sabre team.
Source 02 · Financial News (Korean) · Daejeon’s son Oh Sang-uk · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Kookmin Ilbo (Korean) · Fearless teenager Oh Sang-uk · opens in a new tabIt was his international debut. With no world ranking, he started in the qualifying rounds and won all six pool bouts.
Source 03 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Third place at first international event · opens in a new tabBeat Kim Jun-ho 15-14 in the final of the preliminary events at Chiak Gymnasium in Wonju.
Source 04 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Oh Sang-uk, 19, wins gold at National Sports Festival · opens in a new tabIt was his first gold medal at an international event. Gu Bon-gil finished second at the same event.
Source 05 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · First win at Gyor World Cup · opens in a new tabWith Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho, beat Hungary 45-22 in the final in Leipzig, Germany. It was the first World Championships team title for Korean men’s sabre.
Source 06 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · First World Championships team gold · opens in a new tabBeat Italy 45-39 in the final in Wuxi, China.
Source 07 · Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Second straight World Championships team title · opens in a new tabLost 14-15 to Gu Bon-gil in the final at the Jakarta Convention Center. The win gave Gu a third straight Asian Games individual title.
Source 08 · News1 (Korean) · Asian Games individual sabre final · opens in a new tabSource 10 · Sports Hankook (Korean) · A rematch after five years · opens in a new tabBeat Iran 45-32 in the final. Sports Hankook wrote that the individual final carried Oh’s military service exemption and that Gu Bon-gil helped him earn it with this team gold.
Source 09 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Asian Games team sabre gold · opens in a new tabSource 10 · Sports Hankook (Korean) · A rematch after five years · opens in a new tabBeat András Szatmári 15-12 in the final in Budapest, Hungary. His world ranking went from second before the event to first.
Source 11 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · World Championships individual title and No. 1 ranking · opens in a new tab Date is Korea time.With Gu Bon-gil, Ha Han-sol and Kim Jun-ho, beat host Hungary 45-44 in the final.
Source 12 · Newsis (Korean) · Third straight World Championships team title · opens in a new tab The match was on July 21 local time.Jung Jung-yong, coach of the under-20 national football team, received the Coaching Award at the same ceremony.
Source 13 · Edaily (Korean) · Korea Sports Awards, Performance Award · opens in a new tabThe basis was winning both the individual and team events at the World Championships the year before.
Source 14 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Coca-Cola Sports Awards Most Valuable Player · opens in a new tabLost 13-15 to Sandro Bazadze at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. After a dispute over a ruling in the first period, the Korea Fencing Federation began looking into the facts.
Source 15 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Tokyo Olympic individual quarterfinal ruling dispute · opens in a new tabWith Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho, beat Italy 45-26 in the final.
Source 16 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Tokyo Olympic team sabre gold · opens in a new tabAfter graduating from Daejeon University, with no sabre club team to join there, he competed for Seongnam City Hall, then moved to his hometown team three years later. Daejeon City and the Daejeon Sports Council founded the Daejeon City Hall men’s sabre team that year.
Source 02 · Financial News (Korean) · Daejeon’s son Oh Sang-uk · opens in a new tabSource 38 · Daejeon Ilbo (Korean) · World No. 1 sabre fencer from Daejeon · opens in a new tabBeat Hungary 45-37 in the final in Cairo, Egypt.
Source 17 · Maniatimes (Korean) · Fourth straight World Championships team title · opens in a new tab Date is Korea time.Beat Gu Bon-gil 15-7 in the final at the Hangzhou Dianzi University gymnasium. Gu had beaten him on the same stage five years earlier.
Source 18 · SPOTV News (Korean) · Hangzhou Asian Games individual gold · opens in a new tabSource 10 · Sports Hankook (Korean) · A rematch after five years · opens in a new tabBeat China 45-33 in the final. It was the third straight Asian Games team title for Korean men’s sabre.
Source 19 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Third straight Asian Games team title · opens in a new tabBeat Sun Chenfeng 15-9 in the final in Kuwait. It was his first individual title at the event since the 2019 Chiba championships, five years earlier.
Source 20 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Asian Championships individual sabre title · opens in a new tab The match was on June 22 local time.Beat Fares Ferjani 15-11 in the final at the Grand Palais, giving the Korean team its first gold medal of the Games. He was also the first Korean men’s sabre fencer to reach an Olympic individual final.
With Gu Bon-gil, Park Sang-won and Do Kyung-dong, beat Hungary 45-41 in the final. Korea won a third straight Olympic men’s sabre team title, and Oh became the first Korean athlete to win two golds at the Paris Games.
Source 23 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Third straight Olympic team title and two golds in Paris · opens in a new tab The match was on July 31 local time.Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo announced plans to build the Oh Sang-uk Gymnasium at the event.
Source 24 · Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Daejeon City Hall welcome event · opens in a new tabHe said he went straight to filming after returning home. A month later Sports Hankook named him among the athletes busy after the Paris Olympics.
Source 25 · MK Sports (Korean) · Appearance on You Quiz on the Block · opens in a new tabSource 26 · Sports Hankook (Korean) · Paris Olympic stars, an update · opens in a new tabJoined the regular cast with Cha Tae-hyun, Kim Dong-hyun, Lee Yi-kyung and Shin Seung-ho.
Source 27 · Star News (Korean) · Handsome Guys scheduled · opens in a new tabCompeted for Daejeon at Geumjeong Gymnasium at Busan Sports Park and won, then won the team event on Sept. 30 for two titles.
Source 28 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · National Sports Festival sabre individual title · opens in a new tabSource 29 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Team title too at National Sports Festival · opens in a new tabHe had not joined the national team the previous season to recharge, and returned this season. He advanced by beating Bakhdaoulet Kourlabekouly 15-9 in the round of 64.
Source 30 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Algiers World Cup men’s individual bronze · opens in a new tab Date is Korea time.Beat Luo Xiaotong 15-8 in the final in Delhi, India. News1 reported that the handball stadium at Seoul Olympic Park, where the Korea Fencing Federation is based, was closed off, so the team could not take out its personal equipment and competed with borrowed equipment.
Source 31 · News1 (Korean) · Asian Championships individual title · opens in a new tab Date is local time.Won in New Delhi, India, with Park Sang-won, Do Kyung-dong and Hwang Hee-geun.
Source 32 · SBS (Korean) · Asian Championships team title · opens in a new tabReached the final in Hong Kong with Park Sang-won, Do Kyung-dong and Hwang Hee-geun and lost to France. Three days earlier he finished 20th in the individual event, and Edaily reported his back pain worsened after the event and he rested through August.
Source 34 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · World Championships team silver · opens in a new tabSource 33 · Yonhap News TV (Korean) · Do Kyung-dong silver at World Championships · opens in a new tabSource 35 · Edaily (Korean) · Oh Sang-uk ahead of the Asian Games · opens in a new tabStood as an athlete representative with gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong at the send-off ceremony at Jincheon National Training Center. The Games opened Sept. 19, and the men’s sabre individual event is on Sept. 23.
Source 36 · Newsis (Korean) · Asian Games team send-off ceremony · opens in a new tabSource 37 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Asian Games sabre individual entry · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2009–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
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Sports · South Korea
Sep 30, 1996 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1996: the year of the event minus 1996, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.22 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.