Olympics 2021: Iran wins karate gold after bizarre DQ (Video)

A karateka from Iran was knocked out but still won a gold medal due to his opponent’s disqualification

Despite getting knocked out and being left unable to continue the Olympic gold-medal matchup, a karateka from Iran was given the win when his opponent, representing Saudi Arabia, was disqualified.

Tareg Hamedi of Saudi Arabia faced off with Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran in the finals of the +75kg division of the Men’s Kumite competition.

With Hamedi leading 4-1 about a minute into the three-minute contest — and holding the advantage due to scoring the first strike — he appeared to land a head kick that sent his opponent into unconsciousness.

Watch Olympics karate participant get disqualified in Kumite for head-kick knockout

In a sport like Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or kickboxing, this would normally be a KO victory. But in karate, karatekas are expected to show control with their strikes and not cause injury to their opponents.

As a result, Hamedi won the gold medal by way of disqualification.

UFC fans can relate to a controversial championship disqualification victory. Current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling won the title at UFC 259 when his opponent, then-defending champ Petr Yan — Yan was by all means cruising to a decision — was disqualified when an illegal knee left Sterling unable to continue.