GOLD MEDAL MATCHES:
Lutalo Muhammad (Great Britain) vs. Cheick Sallah Cisse (Ivory Coast)
In an epic finish, Cheick Sallah Cisse defeats Lutalo Muhammad with a last second head kick to win gold in the men’s 80kg division.
Cisse’s victory gives Ivory Coast their first ever gold medal.
A stalemate for the majority of the first round, Muhammad snuck in a head kick to end the round on top.
In the second round, both competitors gave up points for falling, then Cisse tied the match with a spinning body kick.
With little time remaining in the final round, Muhammad went up two points by landing a body kick, sending his man out of bounds.
Cisse pressed on, and delivered a head kick with one second left to steal the gold medal from the British fighter.
The 22-year-old Ivorian sprinted around the arena as soon as he realized what he had just done. Muhammad ripped his head gear off in disappointment.
Cisse def. Muhammad 8-6.
Haby Niare (France) vs. Oh Hye-Ri (South Korea)
South Korea’s Oh Hye-Ri defeats France’s Haby Niare in a thrilling contest to win the gold medal in the 67kg division.
Hye-Ri was the 2015 World Champion at 73kg, and Niare was the 2013 World Champion. This is South Korea’s second gold medal of taekwondo in Rio.
A relatively slow start, Niare landed the only strike of the round, a late head kick.
The French fighter got a quick body shot to increase her lead in the second round, but Hye-Ri landed a flurry of head kicks, while knocking Niare to the ground to gain a six point lead.
Niare was attacking the whole final round, scoring a body kick and a head kick to cut the lead significantly, but ultimately came up short when Hye-Ri could flee strikes and burn the clock.
Hye-Ri def. Niare 13-12.
BRONZE MEDAL MATCHES:
Farida Azizova (Azerbaijan) vs. Ruth Gbagbi (Ivory Coast)
Gbagbi started it off with an early head kick, but Azizova got a point back with a thunderous body kick.
In the second round, the Ivory Coast native landed another vicious head kick and a body kick to take a considerable lead in the match.
The final round was a defensive demonstration from Gbagbi, who didn’t concede a point or register a strike.
Gbagbi def. Azizova 7-1.
Steven Lopez (United States) vs. Oussama Oueslati (Tunisia)
Oueslati jumped out to an early lead in the first round, scoring on two smooth head kicks. Lopez grabbed a point when the Tunisian went out of bounds.
It was more of the same in the second round with Oueslati landing another head kick and body shots.
Lopez gave it everything he had, but Oussama Oueslati’s length was too much to handle.
Oueslati def. Lopez 14-5.
Nur Tatar (Turkey) vs. Chia-Chia Chuang (Chinese Taipei)
Halfway through the first round, Chuang landed a head kick and immediately beamed a huge smile.
There were no registered strikes in the second round.
In the third round, Tatar got on the board with a body kick, and then landed two head kicks to steal the match from Chuang.
Tatar def. Chuang 7-3.
Piotr Pazinski (Poland) vs. Milad Beigi Harchegani (Azerbaijan)
Harchegani struck Pazinski in the face with a head kick early, and later scored a body kick to end the first round up by four.
It was more of the same in the second round, as Harchegani scored a body kick and head kick back to back. He finished the round with a nice push kick to the body.
Right away in the third round, Harchegani lands yet another head kick to win on point gap.
Harchegani def. Pazinski 12-0.
REPECHAGE:
Ruth Gbagbi (Ivory Coast) vs. Aniya Louissaint (Haiti)
Gbagbi def. Louissaint 7-2.
Steven Lopez (United States) vs. Hayder Shkara (Australia)
Lopez def. Shkara 0-0 (decision).
Melissa Pagnotta (Canada) vs. Chia-Chia Chuang (Chinese Taipei)
Chuang def. Pagnotta 4-1.
Piotr Pazinski (Poland) vs. Tahir Gulec (Germany)
Pazinski def. Gulec 6-5.