József Salim

József Salim’s father met his mother when he was a Tanzanian student studying in Hungary. The family lived in the father’s homeland for a few years after the birth of József and Gergely and then in several other countries, where they spent shorter periods of time and finally settled in Denmark, where both brothers became proficient in taekwondo.

During their time in Hungary József started with judo in the colors of Bp. Honvéd but could not find a suitable affiliation in Denmark. As a result of a Bruce Lee film, he switched sports and chose the traditional Korean martial art of taekwondo. As it turned out later, he made the right decision, as he won 13 Danish (1983-95) and one Hungarian (1996) Championships, also winning one junior (1984) and three senior European Championships (1986, 1990, 1992).

In 1992 Salim took part in the Barcelona Olympics in Danish colors, where the sport was still a demonstration sport, and in 2000 competed for Hungary, when the sport was included on the Olympic Program for the first time. After failing to qualify for the 2004 Athina Olympics, he retired from competition.

Salim and his brother ran a martial arts school in Los Angeles. József worked for the US national team and in 2012 coached the British Olympic team. In 2013, he was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of the Fame. His nephew, Salim Omar, finished fifth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.