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.
