PARIS, France (Aug. 8, 2024) – The second brace of gold medals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Taekwondo competition went to Uzbekistan in the M-68kg and to Korea in the W-57kg.
That marked the second gold for Team Korea on just the second day of competition.
Female silver was won by Iran, while male silver went to Jordan. Women’s bronzes were won by Canada and Bulgaria. Men’s bronzes went home to China and Brazil.
Earlier, the Grand Palais had welcomed two special visitors. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and IOC President Thomas Bach who watched afternoon matches and visited the Virtual Taekwondo stand in the Grand Palais’ spectator-engagement area. Virtual Taekwondo offers audience members the opportunity to don headsets and sensors, then do contactless digital combat.
Prior to the evening sessions, the WT Demo Team performed. In a sport showcase, Uzbekistan bested Brazil 21-8 in Mixed Gender Team competition.
W-57kg
The category final pitted Nahid Kiyanichandeh of Iran against Yujin Kim of Korea.
The Iranian fought at Tokyo 2020 without result, but is raising her game: She holds two Grand Prix silvers and is 2023 World Champion. By contrast, the Korean won the 2016 Youth World Championship, but has made less impact on the elite level. Paris 2024 is her breakout tournament.
The match started with minimal action: Both athletes stalked each other around the mats in a war of nerves. Scrappy contact near the end of the round saw gamjeoms hit the board, and a failed IVR by Kiyanichandeh. Kim won Round 1, 5-1.
In Round 2, Kim found her range. A head kick by the tall Korean put her five points up, pressuring the Iranian to fight forward. Kim added another two points – then another three. Facing 8-0 defeat in the final seconds, the Iranian attacked – then suddenly stopped fighting and shook hands before the final bell.
That gifted Kim an Olympic gold medal before the end of the second round. A remarkable achievement for a previously unheralded fighter.
The first bronze medal was won by popular Canadian Skylar Park, who defeated Lebanese Laetitia Aoun. The second was taken by Bulgaria’s Kimia Alizadeh who beat China’s Zongshi Luo after a tight fight that she won, in Round 3, by a single point.
That makes Alizadeh the first female athlete to win an Olympic medal for Iran – at Rio 2016 – and, after a period as a refugee, the first athlete to win a Taekwondo medal for Bulgaria.
M-68kg
The final saw defending Olympic champion Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan take on Zaid Kareem of Jordan.
The Uzbek star was always going to be the man to beat in Paris. Gold from Tokyo 2020 and bronze from Rio 2016 adorn his trophy cabinet, and last year he added two Grand Prix golds to that collection. The Jordanian is making his Olympic debut in Paris, but has already made an impact at the elite level, with three Grand Prix medals.
Kareem took first blood with a body kick, going 2-0 up, but Rashitov, biding his time, struck back with a beautiful spinning heel kick across the face. 5-2. Kareem bought his score up to four, but Ulugbek won the round.
In the second, Rashitov went swiftly ahead with a whip-like body kick. The Jordanian returned fire, but was not scoring. Both men went down in a flurry of flying legs, and Kareem lost an IVR. 13 seconds remained.
Rashitov sealed the deal by dropping his opponent with a side thrust kick. In the final instant, the Ubzek lost a point for retreating off the mats, but with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, the Jordanian had no chance to raise his score.
It was a poised and highly professional performance by Rashitov, who in dominant fashion, lifted his second consecutive Olympic gold.
After Great Britain’s Tokyo silver medalist Bradly Sinden was a surprise no-show, China’s Yushai Liang took the first bronze.
The second was more dramatic. Spain’s Brazil’s Edival Pontes took on Spain’s Javier Perez Polo in a fierce kick fest that went to the third round. Pontes won bronze in a very, very tight match.
Action resumes at the Grand Palais tomorrow. The M-80kg and W-67kg categories will be contested on Day 3.
