Sebastian Crismanich wins Olympic taekwondo gold

Sebastian Crismanich of Argentina won the Olympic taekwondo gold

medal in the men’s 80-kilogram division on Friday.

Crismanich defeated Nicolas Garcia of Spain in a cautious final

where both seemed reluctant to attack and spent most of the match

simply blocking each other’s kicks. Crismanich finally managed to

land a body shot with eight seconds remaining, winning 1-0.

The 26-year-old Crismanich won the Pan American Games title last

year, but this is his first Olympic medal.

In most of his matches on Friday, Crismanich was on the attack

early, catching his opponents off guard with a rapid succession of

body shots and head kicks.

Several of the division’s top seeds made an early exit,

including five-time world champion Steven Lopez of the U.S., world

champion Yousef Karami of Iran and top-seeded Ramin Azizov of

Azerbaijan.

The bronze medals were won by Lutalo Muhammad of Britain and

Mauro Sarmiento of Italy.