Olympics-Taekwondo-Lee's last-second win keeps South Korea's hopes of gold alive kwsn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kwsn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
July 26, 2021 11:38
Korea has yet to clinch a gold medal in taekwondo, in which the country normally dominates, at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which opened on July 23.
Lee Dae-hoon, one of the most decorated taekwondo athletes of his era, lost to Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan in the round of 16 in the men s 68-kg event on Sunday. When Rashitov reached the final, Lee went into repechage and got another chance at a medal. But he lost to China s Zhao Chuai 17-15 in the bronze medal match.
The 29-year-old veteran announced his retirement after the loss.
Taekwondo player Lee Dae-hoon reacts after losing the bronze medal match of the men s 68-kg event at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Sunday.
South Korea’s Lee Dae-Hoon was taken out of taekwondo action far sooner than anyone expected.
The No. 1 seed in men’s 68 kg, Dae-Hoon was defeated by Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov in Round of 16 competition. Dae-Hoon had a commanding lead over Rashitov in the third frame, but Rashitov scored eight points to take a late lead before Dae-Hoon tied the score with 11 second to go. The bout went to the golden round and Rashitov landed a two-point tunk shot just 17 seconds into the extra period to win it.
Dae-Hoon is a three-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist (silver in London, bronze in Rio).
The 17-year-old Kim is tipped for a bright future as he became the youngest person to ever win an Olympic gold medal in Korea s archery team history. With the latest feat, he will automatically receive exemption from his mandatory military service. Korea s male athletes who win any Olympic medal are exempted from national military service.
If it hadn t been for COVID-19 pushing the Tokyo Olympics back a year, Kim would have given up his chances to compete for his homeland. Stymied by a shoulder injury, he originally withdrew from the selection match for the national team in 2019. However, the unprecedented one-year postponement has given him another chance to play for the national team.