Three-time Olympic weightlifter Kim Seong-Jip earned two bronze medals in 1948 and 1952 as a middleweight, placing fifth in 1956. He was the first Korean to defend an Olympics medal. Kim took up weightlifting while studying at the Central Institute of Physical Education. He was Japanese champion in 1936 and 1938 and also won the Japanese 1936 Olympic trials, but Japan did not send any weightlifters to Berlin. He also won bronze at the 1947 World Championships, and in 1954 won the Asian Games, then as a light-heavyweight. In 1994 Kim was awarded the Olympic Order in Silver.
Kim later worked as a weightlifting coach in Korea for nearly 40 years and had a career as a sports official. He was team leader of the South Korean Olympic teams at the 1972 and 1984 Olympics, and also participated as an official at the 1964, 1968 and 1976 Olympics. Kim was secretary-general and later vice-president of the Korea Sports Council and was the director of the Korean National Training Center. He spent time as executive director and vice-president of Korean Weightlifting Federation and, in his later years, worked as a consultant to them.
Republic of Korea