World taekwondo officials have been trying to make their sport a more spectacular and less defensive martial art by introducing new rules and equipment, with mixed results.
The changes were put to their first Olympic test on Wednesday as the Summer Games’ taekwondo tournament started with victories by South Korean champion fighter Kim So Hui in the women’s 49kg class and by Chinese outsider Zhao Shuai in the men’s 58kg.
Kim, also known as the ‘Oxygen Tank’ for her strength, dominated the European champion throughout for a 7-6 score. “The gold medal to me is everything,” the Korean double world champion said. “I really concentrated on the match to be the Olympic champion of the Rio Olympics.”
In the second round of the final fight, she delivered a three-point kick to Bogdanovic’s head that was recorded by the new electronic sensors that have been built into the helmets. “Now you can see a lot of head-kick techniques,” Bogdanovic’s team leader Dragan Jovic said after the first day of taekwondo bouts at the Games.
Thai world champion Panipak Wongpattanakit and Azerbaijan’s Patimat Abakarova won the women’s bronze medals. All other top contenders got beaten in the quarter-finals, including double Olympic champion Wu Jingyu, who lost to her admirer Bogdanovic.
“Wu Jingyu is a really big fighter and a legend for me. I watched her fights on YouTube and she was my idol. I learned how to fight her style,” Bogdanovic said.
In the men’s final, Zhao’s Thai opponent Tawin Hanprab scored one of the most spectacular three points of the day when he high-kicked the back of Zhao’s head, brought his second leg up and locked in the Chinese fighter’s helmet with both of his feet. However, Zhao prevailed as he was able to land a higher number of attacks for a final score of 6-4.
“It means so much not only for my family but for my friends as well. We will have a better future,” said Zhao, who had previously never ranked higher than a third place in World and Asian championships.
In the 58kg class, all the favourites fell by the wayside in the first round, including world champion Farzan Ashourzadeh Falleh. The ‘Tsunami’ from Iran was shattered after losing to Zhao in the very last seconds of their bout. “I’m very sorry for my country and my supporters. This is probably the worst I have ever done. This is all like a bad dream,” he said.
South Korean Kim Tae Hun, who has a world title in a higher weight class, was another favourite who got beaten early. However, Kim earned another chance as he made it through the repechage round and went on to earn bronze.
The second men’s bronze went to Luisito Pie from the Dominican Republic, one of the most active attackers among the male fighters. He delivered some of the very rare kicks to the torso that could be seen in many later bouts.
The World Taekwondo Federation has said that it had upgraded the score for such kicks from two to three, “to encourage the use of the spectacular spinning back kick, spinning roundhouse kick and spinning wheel kick.”
However, many of the fights remained less exciting in Rio, as athletes delivered most of their kicks from a standing position.
The most spectacular performances came not from the Olympic competitors, but from a group of young taekwondo fighters who jumped high through the air and split apart wooden boards during a show break.
Kim So Hui
