Iran’s Hadi Saei won the men’s 80kg class taekwondo gold yeterday, defeating Italy’s Mauro Sarmiento.
Saei, who won the gold in a lower weight class in the Athens Olympics four years ago, went ahead in the first round, but Sarmiento hit him squarely with a head kick to make the score 4-2.
Saei landed a kick in the second round to move within a point, then another to Sarmiento’s side to tie the score at 4-4 going into the final round.
Saei came out quickly in the third, scoring another point for the lead. He then added a sixth point to seal the victory.
Steven Lopez of the US scored on Azerbaijan’s Rashad Ahmadov in the final seconds to win bronze. The second bronze went to China’s Zhu Guo, who defeated Britain’s Aaron Cook 4-1.
In the women’s 67kg competition South Korea’s double world champion Hwang Kyung-seon beat Canada’s Karine Sergerie 2-1 to claim the gold medal.
Sergerie, the world champion in the 59-63kg class, led 1-0 after the first period but the South Korean hit back to tie the score 1-1 in the second.
Hwang’s back kick caught the Canadian’s abdomen in the third round to bring South Korea their third gold medal in taekwondo on the third day of the four-day competition.
The bronze medals went to world silver medalist Gwladys Patience Epangue of France, who defeated Australia’s Tina Morgan 4-1, and Croatia’s Sandra Saric who outscored Puerto Rico’s Asuncion Ocasio Rodriguez 5-1.
Earlier in the day Sheikha Maitha bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family made her Olympic debut in the event.
She lost 5-1 to eventual champion Hwang.
Sheikha Maitha was given a spot in the repecharge but was overpowered 4-0 by bronze medalist Saric.
Her father, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, is a karate blackbelt and she followed him into the Japanese-born combat sport.
Four years later, she also started practicing taekwondo and won a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. She was named the Arab athlete of the year last year.
“I love sports. I love athletes. I love what sportsmanship represents, the value of sports,” she said. “Just win or lose. It’s very fair. There’s no class, you know. Everyone is equal. You’re on your merit.”
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