The country that created taekwondo can still dominate.
Oh Hye-ri on Friday won the women’s 67kg division at the Olympics, giving South Korea its second gold medal in the sport at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Oh, 28, beat top-seeded Haby Niare of France in the final. Although she did not score until the second round, Oh quickly landed numerous head shots within about 30 seconds to win 13-12.
Oh previously competed in a heavier weight division, winning a world championship title.
“I didn’t expect the gold medal, but I trained very hard to be able to compete here and am happy with this result,” Oh said. “The strongest fighters are in this division, so I had to spend a lot of time preparing for this.”
The other South Korean to win Olympic gold in taekwondo at the Rio Games was Kim So-hui, who earned the title in the women’s light flyweight division on Wednesday.
The country, which won only one gold medal at the 2012 London Games, has also earned two bronze medals in taekwondo.
Ruth Gbagbi of the Ivory Coast and Nur Tatar of Turkey won the bronze medals on Friday.
In the men’s event, Cheick Sallah Sisse won the 80kg division by beating Lutalo Muhammad of Britain in the final, giving Ivory Coast its first Olympic gold medal.
The third-seeded Sisse took the lead in the last second, landing a spinning kick just as the match ended to win 8-6.
“It’s something I learned in training, to always keep trying until the end and thank God it worked,” Sisse said. “It’s an example to everyone, when you train, you have to believe.”
Sisse, 22, ran to the stands after his victory, jumped a barrier and waved to the cheering crowd.
The bronze medals went to Oussama Oueslat of Tunisia and Milad Beigi Harchgani of Azerbaijan.
Several of the division’s leading contenders were surprisingly knocked out early, including the top two seeded players, Mahdi Khodabakhshi of Iran and British-born Aaron Cook, who now fights for Moldova.
Taekwondo’s most decorated athlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist Steven Lopez of the US, narrowly lost out on a medal.
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