 |
| South Korea's Park Tae-joon won the gold medal by withdrawing from the 58kg taekwondo final at the Paris Olympics on the 8th (Korea time) in Grand Palais, Paris, France, with Magomedov (Azerbaijan). Park Tae-joon is biting the gold medal at the awards ceremony. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.8.8/ |
|
 |
| South Korea's Park Tae-joon won the gold medal by withdrawing from the 58kg taekwondo final at the Paris Olympics on the 8th (Korea time) in Grand Palais, Paris, France, with Magomedov (Azerbaijan). Park Tae-joon is flying the Korean flag. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.8.8/ |
|
"This isn't a dream, is it?"
It was the smile of Park Tae-joon (20, Kyung Hee University). Park Tae-joon defeated Azerbaijan's Gashim Magomedov 2-0 (9-0 13-1) in the men's 58kg taekwondo final at the 2024 Paris Olympics held in Grand Palais, Paris on the 7th (Korea time). Park Tae-joon won the gold medal at his first career Olympics with this victory. The men's 58kg weight class in Korean taekwondo has been lifted. South Korea has consistently produced superstars in this weight class, but it has not been linked to the Olympic gold medal. Lee Dae-hoon won a silver medal at the 2012 London Games, Kim Tae-hoon won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games, and Jang Joon won a bronze medal at the previous Tokyo Games.
Park Tae-joon was the vanguard of Korean taekwondo trying to clean up the slump of No Gold at the last Tokyo Games. Korea's taekwondo has set its sights on at least one gold medal at the Olympics. The most anticipated candidate was Park Tae-joon. Park Tae-joon, who won his first Taegeuk mark in 2022 while attending Hanseong High School, emerged as a new hope for Korean Taekwondo by winning the World Grand Prix in Manchester, his first international competition. At the Olympic trials in February, he beat world No. 3 Jang Jun to qualify for the Paris Olympics. With Park Tae-joon winning the gold medal, Korean Taekwondo will be able to carry out the rest of the schedule more comfortably. It is expected that better-than-expected results will be possible.
 |
| South Korea's Park Tae-joon won the gold medal by withdrawing from the 58kg taekwondo final at the Paris Olympics on the 8th (Korea time) in Grand Palais, Paris, France, with Magomedov (Azerbaijan). After the awards ceremony, Magomedov is getting out on Park Tae-joon's shoulders. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.8.8/ |
|
In the round of 16, Park Tae-joon beat Venezuela's Johandri Granado (29th in the world) by a landslide. It was a perfect win, with 12-0 in the first round, 12-0 in the second round, not giving a single point. The crisis was the quarterfinals. It won 2-1 (8-53-45-4) against France's Sirian Raab (11th in the world). Park Tae-joon, who took the first round 8-5, lost 3-4 in the second round due to the opponent's strong chase. 3rd Round of Destiny, Park Tae-joon is dragged around He turned the game around with successive body kicks. After a difficult victory, Park Tae-joon said, `You have to overcome the crisis to win a gold medal, but you did well" he sighed with relief.
The semifinalist was Mohamed Khalil Zendubi of Tunisia, who was ranked #1 in the world. Zendubi was considered a strong favorite. Gendubi defeated Bailey Lewis (Australia, 14th) in the quarterfinals with a round score of 2-0 (7-4 6-3). Zendubi is a silver medalist at the Tokyo Games held just before. At that time, he was a strong player who defeated Jang Joon (Korea Gas Corporation), a leading player in the Korean competition, in the semifinals.
Park Tae-joon pushed his opponent hard from the beginning. He won the game easier than expected, including successful head attacks. 2-0 (6-2 13-6) a complete victory. Park Tae-joon said "Everyone expected the player to come up and do it aggressively. It worked well." Then "It's an honor to be in the final in 12 years in this weight class, but my goal is gold!"I didn't let my guard down.
 |
| South Korea's Park Tae-joon won the gold medal by withdrawing from the 58kg taekwondo final at the Paris Olympics on the 8th (Korea time) in Grand Palais, Paris, France, with Magomedov (Azerbaijan). (From left) Silver medal Azerbaijan Gashim Magomedov, gold medal South Korea Park Tae-joon, bronze medal Tunisian Muhammad Halil Zendubi and France's Sirian Rabet are taking pictures together on the podium. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.8.8/ |
|
The final match is Magomedov, ranked 26th in the world. Magomedov defeated Ireland's Jack Uli in the round of 16 and Spain's Adrian Vicente Yunta in the quarterfinals, followed by Italy's Vito Delakila, who was a strong favorite in the semifinals.
Round 1. Park Tae-joon took the lead by kicking his body in six seconds. About a minute later, they bumped into each other. Magomedov collapsed complaining of pain in his foot. Magomedov took points and widened the score to 3-0. Park Tae-joon led 7-0 with a series of body kicks. Magomedov collapsed again with 14 seconds left in the first round. It was 9-0 with additional points. I got the first round.
Round two, Magomedov limped to the center of the mat. Magomedov has shown his fighting spirit. Both players exchanged points. Magomedov was deducted once more, and Park Tae-joon led 2-1. Magomedov applied for a video review of the head attack, but it was not recognized. Rather, Park Tae-joon succeeded in kicking the rotating head, making it 7-1. Successive body kicks were successful, reaching 13-1. In fact, the game was over. Magomedov was eventually knocked down by injury, and the game ended.
 |
| South Korea's Park Tae-joon won the gold medal by withdrawing from the 58kg taekwondo final at the Paris Olympics on the 8th (Korea time) in Grand Palais, Paris, France, with Magomedov (Azerbaijan). Park Tae-joon is greeting the stands. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.8.8/ |
|
Park Tae-joon, whom I met in the mixed zone, said, "This is not a dream, is it?" he opened his mouth. He said "My goal is to sing the national anthem at the top of the Paris Stadium with determination before the Olympics. What I kept saying became a reality and I thought this was a dream, so I said it." "I think I've been living for the gold medal for 21 years."
Regarding the last situation, Park Tae-joon said, `The opponent hit his left foot, and I hit his right foot. I kicked it because my torso seemed empty, but my shins bumped into each other. I don't know if the other person was sick, but he hurt a lot. "The rule is to leave until the referee declares. I'm sure I kicked a whistle, but I don't know if I hit it while falling or why I grabbed my thighs."
Ahead of this competition, Park Tae-joon vowed to relieve the resentment of coach Lee Dae-hoon, who retired after failing to win an Olympic gold medal. As is known, Lee Dae-hoon is Park Tae-joon's high school senior and role model. I still have a picture I took when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, and I followed him to Hanseong High School. Park Tae-joon said "Olympic gold medal is every sportsman's dream. "I'm more honored to win such a gold medal. I added a gold medal to Hansung High School," he said with a smile.
 |
| South Korea's Park Tae-joon won the gold medal by withdrawing from the 58kg taekwondo final at the Paris Olympics on the 8th (Korea time) in Grand Palais, Paris, France, with Magomedov (Azerbaijan). Park Tae-joon is doing a ceremony. Paris (France) = Reporter Chung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.8.8/ |
|
Park Tae-joon put his earphones on and climbed onto the mat ahead of each game. He "I always listened to music before I went into the game. Before that, I listened to fast tempo music. Before the final, I wanted to make a page, so I listened to 'So that it could be a page.'"
Park Tae-joon has a younger brother who does Taekwondo together. We exchanged kakaotalk messages every game. He said "My brother asked me to mention him. My younger brother asked me to wear the gold medal around my neck, but I think I need to think about it"I laughed.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
