 South Korea's Lim Su-jeong, a blue protector, kicks Turkey's Azize Tanrikulu in the women's taekwondo under-57-kilogram final at the Beijing Olympics in Beijing, Thursday. Lim beat the Turk 1-0 to win gold. / AP-Yonhap |
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
``Gold medal or bust'' is an unrealistic expectation for most Olympians, but Lim Su-jeong, South Korea's newly crowned taekwondo queen, said she never had a problem with it.
``Not once did I think I was going to lose,'' said the 22-year-old after defeating Turkey's Azize Tanrikulu 1-0 for the gold in the women's 57-kilogram category.
Lim's gold came just moments before her compatriot Son Tae-jin took the gold in the men's 68-kilogram class over American Mark Lopez to allow Korea to achieve its goal of hauling 10 gold medals in the Beijing Games.
Lim and Son hadn't won an Olympic or World Championships title ahead of Thursday, but both finished on top of the world qualifying tournament in Manchester, England, last year.
Each country can enter a maximum of four fighters, two men and two women, in the Olympics, a quota intended to limit the Korean share of the medals.
Lim, who had been considered a top prospect since winning a gold in the 2002 Asian Games as a 16-year-old, had been considered a surefire candidate for the podium and justified the pre-tournament hype with her win Thursday.
However, Lim's Olympic run wasn't as easy as she made it sound. She was tested by Taiwan's Su Li-wen, the defending Asian Games gold medalist, in the first round before escaping with a 1-0 win.
Then Lim nearly conceded a defeat to a spirited Tanrikulu, who had defeated American standout Diana Lopez, the sister of Mark and the youngest member of the famous Lopez family, in the quarterfinals.
Lim lost a point in the first round of the final match after the referee warned her for her passiveness. However, she nullified her blunder by scoring on a right kick to the side of Tanrikulu.
With just 20 seconds left in the match, Lim dramatically landed a back kick, considered her specialty, to the Turk that proved as the winner.
``I tried hard not to pressure myself and keep my composure," Lim said about her win.
``I was chased but I never thought I would lose this match," she said. ``I stayed calm and focused and waited for my chance, which did come at the end.''
Son didn't have an easy day himself. The 20-year-old was engaged in a dogfight against Dennis Bekkers of the Netherlands in the first round and squeezed out a 4-3 victory.
In the finals, Son was drawn against a familiar opponent in Lopez, the 2005 world featherweight champion who he defeated in Manchester last year.
Son struck first with a front kick to Lopez and led 2-0 after the first round after hooking another right kick. However, Lopez proved to be a gamer, scoring on a left kick early in the second round and forcing a tie when Son lost a point for passiveness.
The score stayed tied in the final round, but Son clinched the victory with just three seconds left by landing a right kick to the stunned American.
``I thought winning the gold would feel great, but I don't know how I feel right now," said Son.
``All I have is memories of my coaches and teammates who trained hard with me for the Olympics," he said.
Son had fought through a dislocated left heel in the world qualifiers and the injury remained a concern for him in Beijing. He had also been complaining of pain in his right thigh after a close fight with Turkey's Servet Tazegul in the quarterfinals.
However, Son proved just healthy enough to step on to the top of the podium.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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