Taekwondo: Spain’s Gonzalez wins 58kg gold

LONDON: Double world champion Joel Gonzalez of Spain added Olympic gold to his collection as he beat South Korea’s Lee Dae-Hoon in the men’s under-58kg taekwondo final. World champion Lee had come down from the non-Olympic under-63kg category to compete in London but went down 17-8. Gonzalez struck first in the opening round of the final, connecting with a three-point head kick to open up a 5-2 lead. That kick was not originally scored but he challenged the referee’s decision and was awarded the score after a video review. Lee had closed the gap with two unanswered points until a flurry of late kicks in the second round saw Gonzalez extend his lead to 8-4. In the final round a brutal axe-kick that connected with Lee’s mouth, sending him crashing to the canvas and drawing blood, provided the final nail in the Korean’s coffin.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2012.