# Sin Kim-dan

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{{Short description|North Korean sprinter}}
{{Infobox Korean name/auto
| hangul = %신금단
| hanja  = 辛今丹
| image  = 신금단 선수.jpg
}}
{{family name hatnote|Sin||lang=Korean}}

'''Sin Kim-dan''' or '''Shin Keum-dan''' ({{Korean|hangul=신금단}}; [romanised](/source/Korean_romanization) '''Sin Kim Dan''' in English in the 1960s) (born 3 July 1938<ref name="bioiaaf">{{cite web |title=Shin Geum-Dan |url=https://worldathletics.org/athletes/dpr-of-korea/geum-dan-shin-14359617 |accessdate=29 December 2024 |work=Biographies |publisher=World Athletics}}</ref>) is a [North Korea](/source/North_Korea)n former [track and field](/source/Track_and_Field) athlete who competed in the 1960s in the women's [200 m](/source/200_m), [400 m](/source/400_m) and [800 m](/source/800_m), setting disputed [world records](/source/World_records_in_athletics) in the latter two events.

==Biography==
Sin worked as a [lathe](/source/lathe) operator.<ref name="Comment">{{cite journal|journal=Comment: Communist Fortnightly Review|publisher=Central Books|location=London|volume=2|page=270}}</ref> She was separated from her father in 1950 during the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War). He lived in [South Korea](/source/South_Korea).<ref name="recorder">{{cite book|title=Asian recorder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OnweAAAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=K. K. Thomas at Recorder Press|page=6161|chapter=Japan}}</ref> She was described as tall and long-striding.<ref name="Comment" />

Excluding 1965, Sin was ranked in the top 10 in the world from 1959 to 1967 at 400 m,<ref name="tfrank400">{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/rankings/women/03-w400Rank.pdf|title=World Rankings — Women's 400|publisher=Track and Field News|pages=1–2|accessdate=5 May 2012}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and from 1960 to 1967 in 800m.<ref name="tfrank800">{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/rankings/women/04-w800Rank.pdf#page=2|title=World Rankings — Women's 800|publisher=Track and Field News|year=2011|page=2|accessdate=5 May 2012}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In October 1960, she surpassed the 400 metres world record with an unratified time of 53.0.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GZ5jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u80FAAAAIBAJ&dq=sin-kim-dan&pg=3162%2C4680044|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715165406/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GZ5jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u80FAAAAIBAJ&dq=sin-kim-dan&pg=3162,4680044|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 15, 2012|agency=Associated Press|title=Reds claim record|date=25 October 1960|work=[Palm Beach Post](/source/Palm_Beach_Post)|page=15|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref> She won the 400 m at the [Brothers Znamensky Memorial](/source/Brothers_Znamensky_Memorial) meeting in [Lenin Stadium, Moscow](/source/Luzhniki_Stadium), in 1961, 62, and 63.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=93YhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T4kFAAAAIBAJ&dq=sin-kim-dan&pg=621%2C531867|title=American, Frenchmen star in Moscow meet|date=1 July 1963|agency=Associated Press|work=[Schenectady Gazette](/source/Schenectady_Gazette)|page=17|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref> At [Pyongyang](/source/Pyongyang) in 1962, she ran 400 m in 51.9 s, becoming the first woman to break the 53-second barrier and 52-second barrier.<ref name="iaaf400landmarks">{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/community/athletics/trackfield/newsid=4680.html|title=400 m Women Landmarks|publisher=IAAF|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref> Of her eight claimed world record marks, this would be the only one ratified.<ref>{{cite book|title=12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009|chapter-url=http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf#page=297 |date=2009-07-06|publisher=IAAF|location=Lausanne|page=641|chapter=Progression of Official World Records: Women}}</ref><ref name="Matthews2012">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Peter|title=Historical Dictionary of Track and Field|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQFHe9RwE0wC&pg=PA126|accessdate=5 May 2012|date=2012-04-30|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810867819|page=126|chapter=Korea, Democratic People's Republic Of}}</ref>  A note in the 1964 British Athletics yearbook states, "The IAAF are withholding recognition of a time of 53.1 by [Betty Cuthbert](/source/Betty_Cuthbert) on 11.3.63 pending investigation of Sin Kim Dan's 51.9; meanwhile there is no official world record."<ref name="StatisticiansBoard1964">{{cite book|last1=National Union of Track Statisticians|last2=British Amateur Athletic Board|title=British athletics|year=1964|page=10}}</ref>

Sin represented North Korea at the [GANEFO](/source/GANEFO) (Games of the New Emerging Forces) in 1963 and 1966, winning gold in the 200 m, 400 m, and 800 m at both games.<ref name="genefo">{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/gang.htm|title=GANEFO Games|work=gbrathletics.com|publisher=Athletics Weekly|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref>  Her 1963 times of 51.4 (400 m) and 1:59.1 (800 m) bettered the world records, the latter the first woman under 2 minutes.<ref name="iaaf800landmarks">{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/community/athletics/trackfield/newsid=9385.html|title=800 m - Women Landmarks|publisher=IAAF|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref> They were never ratified by the [IAAF](/source/IAAF), however, as GANEFO was not an approved competition.<ref name="espn">{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.co.uk/onthisday/sport/story/332.html|title=November 12 down the years|work=On This Day|publisher=[ESPN](/source/ESPN)|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref>

Sin's personal bests were set in 1964 in [Pyongyang](/source/Pyongyang), at 51.2 for 400 m and 1:58.0 for 800 m.<ref name="bioiaaf"/><ref name="espn"/> The IAAF suspended GANEFO competitors, effectively barring Sin from the [1964 Summer Olympics](/source/1964_Summer_Olympics) in Tokyo.<ref name="recorder"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uGRkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QnwNAAAAIBAJ&dq=sin-kim-dan&pg=5727%2C4921177|title=Korean speedster out due to Games ban|author=The Canadian Press|date=3 October 1964|work=[The Calgary Herald](/source/The_Calgary_Herald)|page=14|accessdate=5 May 2012|author-link=The Canadian Press}}</ref> Sin was reunited with her father at [Haneda Airport](/source/Haneda_Airport) for a few minutes before being turned back from Japan.<ref name="recorder"/>  [Ann Packer](/source/Ann_Packer) won [the Olympic 800 m](/source/Athletics_at_the_1964_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women's_800_metres) in a new official world record of 2.01.1.<ref name="guardianPacker">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/may/04/ann-packer-tokyo-olympics|title=No 27: Ann Packer wins 800m in 1964 |last=Nakrani|first=Sachin|date=4 May 2012|work=50 stunning Olympic moments|publisher=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|accessdate=5 May 2012|location=London}}</ref>

In 1966, [''Time'' magazine](/source/Time_magazine) stated in an article on the introduction of [gender verification in sports](/source/gender_verification_in_sports):<ref name="time">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836386,00.html|title=Track & Field: Preserving la Difference|date=16 September 1966|magazine=[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))|accessdate=5 May 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612003903/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836386,00.html |archivedate=2008-06-12}}</ref>
:Finally there was Sin Kim Dan, a delicate little North Korean lass who broke the women's records at both 400 meters and 800 meters two years ago; some time later, an overjoyed elderly gentleman in South Korea recognized Sin as the son he had lost in the war.
This claim has been repeated since.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2782/switch-hitter|title=If a man has a sex change, can he compete in the Olympics as a woman?|publisher=[The Straight Dope](/source/The_Straight_Dope)|accessdate=2009-08-19|date=2008-08-22}}</ref><ref name="SchafferSmith2000">{{cite book|last1=Schaffer|first1=Kay|last2=Smith|first2=Sidonie|title=The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMzYdZpk8qMC&pg=PA146|accessdate=5 May 2012|date=2000-08-01|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813528205|page=146|chapter=One Chromosome Too Many?}}</ref>

Sin was one of the first awarded the title "People's Athlete" after its creation in 1966 by the [Supreme People's Assembly](/source/Supreme_People's_Assembly).<ref>{{cite book|last=Yŏnhap Tʻongsin|title=North Korea Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIlh9nNeadMC&pg=PA495|accessdate=5 May 2012|year=2003|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=9780765610041|pages=495–496}}</ref>

==International competition==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
|rowspan=3|1963
|rowspan=3|[GANEFO](/source/Athletics_at_the_1963_GANEFO)
|rowspan=3|[Jakarta](/source/Jakarta), Indonesia
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|200 metres
|-
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|400 metres
|-
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 metres
|-
|rowspan=3|1966
|rowspan=3|[GANEFO](/source/Athletics_at_the_1966_GANEFO)
|rowspan=3|[Phnom Penh](/source/Phnom_Penh), Cambodia
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|200 metres
|-
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|400 metres
|-
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 metres
|}

==See also==
* [Women's 400 metres world record progression](/source/Women's_400_metres_world_record_progression)
* [800 metres world record progression#Women](/source/800_metres_world_record_progression)

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last=Derun |first=P |title=Training Experiment of Sin Kim Dan|journal=Track Technique—The Journal of Technical Track & Field Athletics|issue=48}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
;Articles on Kim-dan meeting her father at the Tokyo Olympics:
* {{cite web |url=http://ehistory.go.kr/page/pop/movie_pop.jsp?srcgbn=KV&gbn=DH&mediaid=380&mediadtl=3299&quality=W |title=The torch of anti-communism |date=23 October 1964 |work=ehistory |publisher=[Government of South Korea](/source/Government_of_South_Korea) |language=Korean}}
* {{cite web |last=Kim |first=Youn Cheol |url=http://h21.hani.co.kr/section-021170000/2008/05/021170000200805290712030.html |title=Geum-Dan |date=29 April 2008 |work=[The Hankyoreh](/source/The_Hankyoreh) |language=Korean}}
;Photographs of Sin:
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130811235857/http://visualrian.ru/en/site/gallery/#687552 Tamara Press, U.S.S.R., Sin Kim Dan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Iolanda Balas, Romania, taking part in Znamensky Brothers Memorial athletics meet.] Yuriy Somov, 3 July 1962 ([RIA Novosti](/source/RIA_Novosti))
* [https://archive.today/20130223000632/http://fhm.no/image/390509/0/500/380 Sin Kim Dan] PR Photos ([FHM](/source/FHM) Norway)

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sin, Kim-dan}}
Category:1938 births
Category:North Korean women sprinters
Category:Living people
Category:Sex verification in sports
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:North Korean women middle-distance runners
Category:People's Athletes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sin Kim-dan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_Kim-dan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_Kim-dan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
