Korea's Son Beats Lopez in Final Second for Taekwondo Gold
outh Korea's Son Tae-jin scored a kick in the final second to defeat Mark Lopez of the United States for the gold medal in the men's 68-kilogram taekwondo competition.
Lopez fell two points behind as Son displayed superior kicking in the first round of Thursday's final. Lopez came back with a score in the second round and Son had a point deducted for passivity, evening the score at 1-1.
A low kick sent Son to the mat in the third round, and when he got up both fighters traded kicks, bringing the score to 2-2. Son then scored with one second remaining to take the gold.
Winning bronze were Taiwan's Sung Yu-chi, who outscored Germany's Daniel Manz, and Turkey's Servet Tazegul, who defeated Peter Lopez of Peru.
Taekwondo awards two bronze medals in each weight class.
8/21/2008 6:59 AM
By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
BEIJING
South Korea's Son Tae-jin defeated USA's Mark Lopez at the gold medal match for the men's taekwondo -68 kilogram class at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.
(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
outh Korea's Son Tae-jin scored a kick in the final second to defeat Mark Lopez of the United States for the gold medal in the men's 68-kilogram taekwondo competition.
