Olympic taekwondo results August 20: Zheng, Isaev win gold in heavyweight
By John Buhler
Olympic taekwondo’s final day at Rio de Janeiro saw China’s Zheng Shuyin and Azerbaijan’s Radik Isaev win gold medals in the both heavyweight divisions.
Saturday was the last of four days of Olympic taekwondo competition at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Late Saturday saw both China’s Zheng Shuyin and Azerbaijan’s Radik Isaev win Olympic gold medals in their respective heavyweight divisions.
Zheng won the Women’s 67+ Kilogram weight class as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, upsetting No. 1 seed of Mexico in Maria del Rosario Espinoza, 5-1 in the finals. Espinoza’s only defeat was to Zheng in the finals.
Earning the two bronzes in repechage were Great Britain’s Bianca Walkden and the United States’ Jackie Galloway. Walkden was the tournament’s No. 3 seed and her only loss was to Zheng in the semifinals. She redeemed herself in repechage by defeating No. 9 seed from Morocco in Wiam Dislam, 7-1.
Galloway was the tournament’s No. 4 seed with her only loss coming to Espinoza in the semifinals. She was able to redeem herself in repechage with a 2-1 victory over No. 7 Gwladys Epangue of France to earn a bronze medal. Galloway, 20, was the other American to medal in Olympic taekwondo in Rio de Janeiro. All four top seeds in the Women’s 67+ Kilogram class won Olympic medals.
MEDAL RESULT | Women's 67+ kg
Isaev was the Men’s 80+ kilogram class’ No. 3 seed in the tournament. He was the higher seed in all four of his competitive rounds to earn Olympic gold. Earning the silver medal in the Men’s Heavyweight division was Niger’s Abdoulrazak Issoufou Alfaga. He was the tournament’s No. 12, upsetting France’s No. 5 seed M’bar N’diaye, Brazil’s No. 4 seed Maicon Siqueira, and Uzbekistan’s No. 1 seed Dmitiry Shokin in succession before falling to Isaev in the finals.
Earning the two bronze medals in the men’s tournament via repechage were Siqueira and South Korea’s No. 6 seed Cha Dongmin. Siqueria redeemed his loss to Issoufou Alfaga with a win over Great Britain’s No. 10 seed Mahama Cho. Cha lost to Isaev in the quarterfinals, but redeemed himself in repechage twice by knocking off No. 14 seed from Kazakhstan in Ruslan Zhaparov and top-seeded Shokin in succession to win the other bronze.
American Stephen Lambdin entered the men’s tournament as the No. 13 seed. He didn’t get out of the preliminary round, as he lost to Brazil’s Siqueria, 9-7, in his only match at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.