Niger’s Issoufou Alfaga Abdoulrazak on Saturday won his nation’s second Olympic medal as he clinched silver in the men’s over-80kg taekwondo competition, boosting the number of medals won by African fighters in Rio de Janeiro to five in a sport typically dominated by Asian countries.
The 21-year-old, who defeated world champion Dmitry Shokin of Uzbekistan in the semi-finals, was beaten for gold by Radik Isaev of Azerbaijan on the final day of the sport’s competition.
China’s Zheng Shuyin won gold in the women’s over-67kg category on Saturday. Zhao Shuai won the men’s under-58kg category earlier in the week.
South Korea, where the sport originated, topped the medal table with five, though it was the gold medal to Ivory Coast’s Cheick Sallah Cisse, Abdoulrazak’s silver and three bronzes to African fighters that were the talking point.
“I want to win for Africa,” said Abdoulrazak, whose medal is only the second for Niger after a 1972 boxing bronze.
He said that he had been inspired by Cisse’s stunning victory on Friday when the Ivorian clinched victory against Great Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad with a spin-kick to the head in the last second of their gold-medal bout.
“That showed me,” Abdoulrazak said. “It is possible to win, even at the last moment.”
Cisse’s victory gave the Ivory Coast their second taekwondo medal of Friday, after a bronze for Ruth Gbagbi in the women’s under-67kg category.
The two other bronze medalists hailed from Egypt and Tunisia and the strong showing from African fighters energized a crowd in which small pockets of fans from the continent often rivaled the boisterous Brazilians.
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