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| South Korea's Oh Hye-ri captured gold medal in women's -67kg taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Friday, defeating Haby Niare of France 13-12. / Yonhap |
South Korea's Oh Hye-ri captured gold medal in women's -67kg taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Friday.
Oh defeated Haby Niare of France 13-12 in a spectacular, action-packed final for her first Olympic title.
South Korea has never missed the podium in the women's -67kg since taekwondo became a medal sport in 2000: four golds and one bronze.
Oh, the 2015 world champion in the -73kg, was making her Olympic debut.
Oh's was South Korea's fourth medal after three days of competition, and second gold after Kim So-hui's title in the women's -49kg.
Oh defeated Melissa Pagnotta of Canada 9-3 in the round of 16, and then Chuang Chia-Chia of Chinese Taipei 21-9 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Oh got past Farida Azizova of Azerbaijan 6-5 to set up a meeting with the world No. 1 from France.
Niare took the early 3-0 lead with a successful kick to the head. After the French woman added another point, Oh got three points back with a turning kick. She then added six points in the blink of an eye with consecutive kicks to the head.
The two fighters, clearly at the top of their game in the biggest moment, really duked it out over the final stretch. When the dust settled, Oh emerged victorious by the narrowest of margins.
"I still can't believe what happened; I am glad I don't have to fight another match," Oh said with a smile, with sweat still dripping down her face. "I'd like to say everything was perfect today." (Yonhap)
