Kim Kyeong-ae (curler)

1.1. Childhood and Family

Born on January 21, 1994, Kim Kyeong-ae grew up in Uiseong with her older sister, Kim Yeong-mi, under the care of their single mother. She is a follower of Protestantism. She attended Uiseong Girls' Middle School and Uiseong Girls' High School.

1.2. Introduction to Curling and Nickname

Kim Kyeong-ae's interest in curling was sparked in May 2006, when a curling training center was completed in Uiseong. Her older sister, Kim Yeong-mi, and her sister's classmate, Kim Eun-jung, began playing curling as a hobby. One day, Kim Kyeong-ae was asked by her sister to bring a broom to the practice facility. While there, she found the practice sessions so engaging that she stayed to watch. A physical education teacher from Uiseong Girls' High School noticed her interest and encouraged her to bring a friend if she wanted to join. The next day, Kim Kyeong-ae wrote "Recruiting people for curling" on the classroom blackboard. Her classmate, Kim Seon-yeong, responded to the invitation and joined the team, completing what would become the core of Team Kim.

Her nickname, "Steak," was spontaneously given to her in 2013 during a meal with other players.

2.1. Pacific-Asia Junior Championships

In December 2008, as a third-year middle school student, Kim became a national representative for the first time by winning the 2009 Winter Universiade curling national team selection event as a representative of Uiseong Girls' Middle School. In 2009, upon entering Uiseong Girls' High School's curling club, she won the Junior Curling Championship, qualifying for the 2010 Pacific-Asia Junior Championship. In the final, she narrowly lost to China 3-4, but secured her first international silver medal. From this point, Kim Kyeong-ae was recognized as a top prospect and reported as a promising talent.

Kim Kyeong-ae competed in five consecutive Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships for South Korea from 2010 to 2014. She played as the third for the team skipped by Kim Eun-jung from 2010 to 2012. During these years, the team secured silver medals in 2010 (Nayoro), 2011 (Naseby), and 2012 (Jeonju). In 2013 (Tokoro), she skipped the team to a bronze medal, and in 2014 (Harbin), she led her team to a gold medal victory.

2.2. World Junior Curling Championships

Kim Kyeong-ae skipped the South Korean team at the 2014 World Junior Curling Championships in Flims, Switzerland. Her team, consisting of Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Ji-hyeon, and Oh Eun-jin, achieved a 7-2 record in the round robin, tying with Canada for first place. After losing the 1 vs. 2 playoff game to Canada (skipped by Kelsey Rocque), Kim led her team to a semifinal win against Sweden. They faced Canada again in the gold medal final, where they lost, earning a silver medal-South Korea's first silver at a World Junior Championship.

She also represented Gyeongbuk Science College as third for Kim Eun-jung at two Winter Universiades, finishing 5th at the 2015 Winter Universiade and 6th at the 2017 Winter Universiade.

3.1. Pacific-Asia Curling Championships

Kim Kyeong-ae first represented South Korea at the women's level at the 2012 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, playing third for Kim Eun-jung, where the team won a bronze medal. They returned to the event in 2014, securing another bronze medal. This would have qualified them for the 2015 World Championships, but the event was held in Japan, which qualified as hosts over South Korea. The team would go on to win gold medals at the 2016 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in Uiseong and the 2017 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in Erina. In 2021 (Almaty), the team earned a silver medal.

3.2. World Women's Curling Championship

Team Kim's victory at the 2016 Pacific-Asia Championships qualified them for the 2017 World Women's Curling Championship in China, where they finished sixth. The following year, after their Olympic performance, they played in the 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship, losing in the quarterfinals. At the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship, the team finished seventh with a 7-6 record, which was not enough to directly qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, they achieved South Korea's best-ever finish at the Worlds at the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship in Prince George, where they earned a silver medal after finishing second in the round robin and defeating Canada in the semifinals before losing to Switzerland in the gold medal game.

3.3. Asian Winter Games

In 2017, Team Kim won a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, after losing to China in the final.

3.4. National Championships

Team Kim has consistently performed well in domestic South Korean curling championships. They won the Korean Women's Championship in 2012 (Uijeongbu), 2014 (Chongju), 2016 (Uiseong), 2017 (Icheon), 2020 (Gangneung), and 2021 (Gangneung). They also secured silver medals in 2013 (Chuncheon), 2018 (Jincheon), and 2023 (Gangneung), and bronze medals in 2015 (Icheon), 2019 (Gangneung), and 2024 (Uijeongbu). These national titles often qualified them to represent South Korea in international competitions.

Following their success at the 2017 South Korean championship, Team Kim qualified to represent South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics on home ice. On October 3, 2017, at the 2017-18 season curling national team women's final selection event held at the Icheon Disabled Curling Training Center in Gyeonggi Province, Team Kim achieved a 4-1 record, becoming the national representative for the Pyeongchang Olympics. As the host nation's team, they gained celebrity status in Korea, becoming widely known as the "garlic girls" due to their hometown of Uiseong being famous for its garlic production.

The 2018-19 season saw limited play for the "garlic girls" due to a coaching scandal involving alleged verbal abuse by the country's sports federation vice president. During this period, Kim Kyeong-ae briefly skipped the team at the 2019 WCT Arctic Cup while Kim Eun-jung was preparing for childbirth, finishing with a 1-3 record.

Team Kim returned to the World Curling Tour for the 2019-20 season, initially with Kim Kyeong-ae skipping. They reached the playoffs at the 2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic and the 2019 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, and were runners-up at the inaugural 2019 WCT Uiseong International Curling Cup. Kim Eun-jung rejoined the team later in the season, throwing second stones at the 2019 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, where they reached the quarterfinals. They also had a quarterfinal finish at the 2019 Canad Inns Women's Classic, with Kim Eun-jung returning to skip stones. They made it to the final of the 2019 Changan Ford International Curling Elite and finished fourth at the 2019 China Open. In the new year, they had a quarterfinal finish at the International Bernese Ladies Cup and won the 2020 Glynhill Ladies International, which was their last event of the season before the remaining Grand Slam events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020-21 season began with Team Kim winning their national championship at the 2020 Korean Curling Championships. After a 6-0 round robin record, they defeated Kim Min-ji 6-5 in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and won 7-5 over Gim Un-chi in the final. This victory qualified them for the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship. During this season, the team also changed their home club from the Uiseong Curling Club to the Gangneung Curling Centre after their contract with the Gyeongsangbukdo Sports Council expired.

In the 2021-22 season, Team Kim participated in the 2021 Korean Curling Championships, which served as the selection event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. They secured the national title with an 11-1 record. The team also won the 2021 Alberta Curling Series: Saville Shoot-Out. On tour, they reached the semifinals of the 2021 Sherwood Park Women's Curling Classic and the 2021 Masters Grand Slam event. At the 2021 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, they finished the round robin with a 5-1 record, securing a silver medal after losing to Japan in the gold medal game. Having failed to qualify for the Olympics at the 2021 World Championship, the team then competed in the Olympic Qualification Event. They posted a 6-2 record, lost to Japan in their first game but rebounded to beat Latvia in their second, qualifying Korea for the Winter Games.

In June 2022, Team Kim lost their national team spot at the 2022 Korean Curling Championships, failing to reach the podium for the first time in over a decade. They began their 2022-23 tour season at the 2022 Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, losing in the semifinals. They went 1-3 at the 2022 National Grand Slam and failed to qualify at the 2022 Western Showdown. However, they found success at the 2022 Tour Challenge, qualifying for the playoffs as second seeds before losing to Gim Eun-ji in the quarterfinals. They also lost to Team Gim in the quarterfinals of the Stu Sells Brantford Nissan Classic. At the 2022 Masters, they again missed the playoffs. They ended their season by winning the 2022 Karuizawa International Curling Championships, defeating Kerri Einarson in the final.

The 2023-24 season saw Team Kim finish second to Team Gim at the 2023 Korean Curling Championships, again not qualifying as the national team. Despite this, they had one of their best tour seasons. After two quarterfinal and one semifinal finish, they won the 2023 Stu Sells Tankard, defeating Sayaka Yoshimura in the final. They followed this with a semifinal finish at the 2023 Players Open, including a quarterfinal win against world champions Silvana Tirinzoni. In October, they won the 2023 Tour Challenge Tier 2 title. They won their third event the following month in Uiseong, defeating Team Gim in the final of the Uiseong Korean Cup. After losing the final of the 2023 Karuizawa International to Ikue Kitazawa, Team Kim had an undefeated run at the 2023 Western Showdown. They then played their first Tier 1 Slam event of the year, the 2023 Masters, where they lost in a tiebreaker. In the new year, they qualified at the 2024 Canadian Open before a quarterfinal loss to Tirinzoni. At the 2024 International Bernese Ladies Cup, the team made it to another final before losing to rivals Team Gim. They finished their season at the 2024 Players' Championship with another quarterfinal loss to Tirinzoni. Team Kim's world ranking rose from twenty-seventh to seventh by the end of the 2023-24 season.

4.1. 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Kim Kyeong-ae played as the third for Team Kim Eun-jung. The team had an impressive run, finishing the round robin in first place with an 8-1 record, securing their spot in the semifinals. On February 20, 2018, they defeated the United States 9-6 in their seventh preliminary match, confirming their advancement to the knockout stage regardless of remaining results.

In the semifinal against Japan's Team Fujisawa, the game was tied 7-7 after 10 ends, leading to an 11th-end tiebreaker. With Japan's stone closer to the button, Kim Eun-jung's final draw started weakly, prompting Kim Kyeong-ae to assist with sweeping. The stone successfully settled, securing an 8-7 victory and marking South Korea's first-ever Olympic curling final appearance. Although they lost to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg rink in the gold medal final, they secured a historic silver medal, captivating the nation and earning the affectionate nickname "garlic girls."

4.2. 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Kim Kyeong-ae and Team Kim returned to the Olympic stage at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Despite their efforts, they were unable to replicate their previous success, finishing the event in eighth place with a 4-5 record. Their qualification for the Beijing Games had come through the Olympic Qualification Event, where they secured their spot after a hard-fought playoff against Latvia.

5.1. Former events

8.1. Family

Her older sister, Kim Yeong-mi, is also a curler and serves as the alternate on Team Kim Eun-jung, playing alongside Kim Kyeong-ae.

8.2. Marriage

Kim Kyeong-ae married a non-celebrity man one year her senior on May 6, 2023.