Paris. Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov on Thursday retained his Olympic title in the men’s featherweight (-68kg) taekwondo competition, beating Jordan’s Zaid Kareem to claim the gold medal.
Rashitov defeated Kareem (silver) in two rounds, with a score of 5-4 and 3-1, securing victory in the first with an impressive spinning kick to the head that earned him five points.
The Uzbek fighter won his second gold medal after claiming his first at Tokyo 2020, when he made history by becoming his country’s first Olympic taekwondo champion.
Brazilian Edival Pontes and Chinese Liang Yushuai won the bronze medals.
Rashitov dominated the competition at the Grand Palais, defeating all of his opponents in the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals, scoring victories in the first two rounds of each bout.
On his way to the final, Rashitov inflicted a humiliating 2-1, 9-2 defeat on former world champion Liang Yushuai of China, who failed to land a single kick during the match.
The raucous cheers of the home fans were not enough for host country hope Souleyman Alaphilippe and the Frenchman bowed out to Spaniard Javier Perez Polo in the quarter-finals.
Kareem strengthened Jordan’s Olympic position in taekwondo, which had already brought the country two Olympic medals: gold at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020.
In the women’s featherweight (-57kg) division, South Korea’s Kim Yu-jin won the gold medal by beating Iran’s Nahid Kiyanichandeh.
Kim defeated Kiyanichandeh in two rounds, with a score of 5-1, 9-0. Bulgarian Alizadeh Kimia and Canadian Skylar Park won the bronze medals.
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– 2024-08-09 15:43:00
