Heo Min-ho


Heo Min-ho is a South Korean triathlete. He competed in the Triathlon at the [2012 Summer Olympics – Men's|Men's event] at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
He is the first and remains the only South Korean to have competed in the Triathlon Event at the Olympics Games.

Biography

Heo was born on March 1, 1990, in Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea. His father, Heo Jae-dok, owns a small business and is a former track and field athlete.
He started swimming at the age of 5 for exercise. When he was in the first grade at Guryong Elementary School, he began training in triathlon at 8 years old under the guidance of a coach at a local sports center.
He used to compete in the National Youth Sports Festival as a track and field athlete in elementary school. At the age of 12, he briefly trained as a soccer player before returning to triathlon.

Career

In 2006, as a first-year student at Hapdeok High School in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province Heo surprisingly won a gold medal at the 87th Korean National Sports Festival, defeating all the 20s and 30s senior national team athletes with a record of 1 hour 52 minutes 48 seconds as his first participation. His performance shows the strong potential for future Olympic success.
From 2007, Heo won the Asian Junior Championships for three consecutive years. He also placed 7th in the junior division at the 2008 and 2009 ITU World Championships.
Starting in 2010, Heo began competing in senior-level events. He finished 6th at the Tongyeong ITU World Cup and 5th at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.
In 2011, Heo maintained his position among Asia’s top athletes by placing 8th at the Seoul ITU World Cup in May and 3rd at the Asian Championships in September.
In 2012, the Korea Triathlon Federation announced that Heo was included in the list of 55 Olympic athletes based on rankings and scores, marking the first time a Korean triathlete has qualified for the Olympics.
In 2013, Heo won first place in Elite Men at the 94th Korean National Sports Festival.
In 2014, Heo won a silver medal in the Mixed Relay at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. In November, He won a gold medal in Elite Men and finished 4th in Mixed Relay at 2014 Asian Beach Games at Phuket, Thailand.
In 2015, Heo enlisted in the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps and joined the Tongyeong Triathlon Army Team, which was created in December 2014 to prepare for the Military World Games, hosted by South Korea. He won a gold medal in Team Relay in 2015 Military World Games.
In 2017, Heo won two gold medals in Elite Men and Team Relay in the 98th Korean National Sports Festival.
In 2018, Heo won another silver medal in the Mixed Relay at the 2018 Asian Games at Palembang, Indonesia. and finished 9th in Elite Men. In November, he won two gold medals in Elite Men and Team Relay in the 99th Korean National Sports Festival in 2018.
In 2021, on the 21st November, Heo announced his retirement after participating in the Goseong Triathlon Championships. He also had the honor of being the first triathlete to receive an official retirement ceremony from the Korea Triathlon Federation.
In 2025, after announcing his appointment as a coach for the Busan Sports Council Triathlon Team, it was reported that he would return as a player-coach.

ITU competitions

The following list is based upon the official ITU rankings and the Athlete's Profile Page.
Results list----

DNF = Did not finish

DSQ = Disqualified

Filmography

Television shows