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.