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| United States' Kendall Yount, right, attacks Uzbekistan's Umida Abdullaeva with a kick during the final match of the female +63 kilogram weight division of the taekwondo competition at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games at the Nanjing International Expo Center in Nanjing, China, Thursday. Yount beat Abdullaeva 4-2 to win the gold medal. / Courtesy of World Taekwondo Federation |
By Kim Tae-jong
The United States' Kendall Yount defeated Uzbekistan's Umida Abdullaeva 4-2 on Thursday to win the gold medal in the taekwondo competition at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
"I am so amazed and excited and I can't tell how proud I am," said Yount shortly after an award ceremony for the women's +63kg weight division.
Yount climbed her way to the finals by defeating Ukraine's Yulia Miuts 9-4 in the semifinals. Miuts was one of the strongest competitors in the division, as she won bronze at the WTF Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the Games and gold during the 2014 World Junior Championships in March.
The host country's representative, China's Chen Li, and Miuts had to settle for the two bronze medals available in the same female weight division.
Meliton Sanchez Rivas, an IOC member from Panama, presented the medals to the winners of each division, together with Fred Buitenhuis, president of the Dutch organization Taekwondo Bond Nederland.
On the same day ― which wrapped up the five-day taekwondo competition of the Youth Olympic Games ― France's Yoann Miangue also clinched a gold medal in the men's +73kg weight division.
He brushed aside a stiff challenge from his opponent, Ukraine's Denys Voronovskyy, to win the match 6-4, advancing after besting China's Jintao Liu in the fourth round of the semifinals.
With the victory, Miangue was able to avenge his past defeats in the WTF Taekwondo Qualification Tournament and the 2014 World Junior Championships, which he earned bronze in both events, to finally winning gold in China.
China's Liu and Turkey's Talha Bayram also earned bronze medals in the same male weight class.
The taekwondo event took place at the Nanjing International Expo Center, as part of the Youth Olympic Games, which kicked off its 13-day run on Aug. 16.
The sport attracted a total of 100 young athletes from 59 countries with 20 international referees officiating the matches.
The taekwondo competitions featured five male and five female weight divisions with matches held in two distinct weight categories every day.
A total of 22 countries took home at least one medal at the taekwondo competition of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.
Taiwan won the most medals in the martial arts event with two golds, one silver and one bronze, followed by Iran with two gold and one bronze. South Korea, where the traditional martial arts were originated, won only a silver medal.
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