Park Tae-joon captured gold in the lightest division in men’s taekwondo on Wednesday for South Korea’s first title in its traditional martial at the Paris Olympics.
Park earned a win over Gashim Magomedov of Azerbaijan by withdrawal in the men’s -58-kilogram final at Grand Palais in Paris on the first day of the taekwondo competition. Park won the opening round 9-0 and led the second round 13-1 when Magomedov withdrew due to injury with 1:02 left.
Earlier in the day, Park knocked off world No. 1 from Tunisia, Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi, in the semifinals to set up a duel against Magomedov. 스포츠 Park then grabbed his first career gold after Magomedov decided he could not go on.
This is South Korea’s 12th gold medal of the Paris Olympics, one shy of its Summer Games record with four days left.
“Ever since I was a kid, this is what I’ve always wanted to win,” Park said, pointing to the gold medal around his neck. “Even though I have this with me, I still can’t believe I’ve won the gold medal. This feels like a dream.”
Under new rules introduced for Paris, taekwondo matches are contested in two-minute rounds and are decided in a best-of-three format.