Son Tae-jin wins South Korea second taekwondo gold at Beijing Olympics

Source: Xinhua | 08-21-2008 21:28

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Son Tae-jin won the men's 68kg category in the Olympic taekwondo tournament on Thursday, 10 minutes after his compatriot Lim Su-jeong claimed the women's 57kg class title.

Son Taejin (red) of South Korea competes in Men -68kg Gold Medal  contest against Mark Lopez of the U.S. at USTB Gymnasium in Beijing,  China, Aug. 21, 2008. Son Taejin defeated Mark Lopez by final score  3-2 and won the gold medal of the event. (Xinhua/Zou Zheng)

Son, 21, had a narrow win of 3-2 over Mark Lopez of the United States. The desicive point was scored in the last second of the third round.

Son took the lead in the first round, scoring two points with roundhouse kicks. Lopez got one point with an axe kick on Son's shoulder in the second round, and started to change his tactics.

Lopez, who is taller than Son, tried to keep a proper distance to make effective attacks, while Son tried to get close to the opponent, which made him get a one point deduction.

In the last round, the two launched a series of attacks to each other and got one point each during the scuffle. Then Son kicked first.

The overjoyed burst into tears when hugging with his grey-haired coach, who also cried.

The bronze was shared by Sung Yu-chi of Chinese Taipei and Turkish player Servet Tazegul.

It's the second bronze Chinese Taipei got in taekwondo which started on Wednesday. On the first day of the events, Chu Mu-yen got the bronze in the men's 58kg class.

Editor:Si Qintu