The first taekwondo medals of the Rio Olympics were handed out, with China and South Korea winning gold in the men’s and women’s flyweight competitions, respectively.
South Korea’s Kim So-Hui took gold, her nation’s 11th gold medal in the Olympic history of the sport, with a tightly contested 7-6 victory over Serbia’s Tijana Bogdanovic in the gold medal match. Already with two World Championships to her credit, Kim now has her first Olympic gold medal. Bogdanovic took silver in the world championships last year. Taking bronze were Azerbaijan’s Patimat Abakarova and Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand.
As for the men’s competition, China’s Zhao Shuai defeated Tawin Hanprab of Thailand 6-4 in the gold medal match. Hanprab was the surprise of the tournament, as he was seeded 15th among the 16 fighters competing.
Taking bronze were Luisito Pie of the Dominican Republic and Kim Tae-Hun of South Korea, with Kim Tae-Hun earning his nation’s second taekwondo medal of the day to go with the gold won by Kim So-Hui.