GOLD MEDAL MATCHES:
Maria Espinoza (Mexico) vs. Zheng Shuyin (China)
China’s Zheng Shuyin, the No. 2 ranked fighter in her discipline, defeats Mexico’s Maria Espinoza to win the taekwondo heavyweight gold medal in Rio.
Shuyin kicked off the scoring with a body kick, utilizing her range advantage over Espinoza.
No strikes registered in the second round.
Late in the third round, Espinoza went for a spinning kick, but Shuyin read it and countered with her own strikes en route to the gold.
Espinoza is the fourth taekwondo athlete to win three Olympic medals.
Shuyin def. Espinoza 5-1.
Radik Isaev (Azerbaijan) vs. Issoufou Alfaga Abdoulrazak (Niger)
Azerbaijan’s Radik Isaev defeats Niger’s Issoufou Alfaga Abdoulrazak to win gold in the 80+kg taekwondo event.
The gold medalist formerly competed for Russia until 2012.
First score went to Isaev in the second round, when he landed a head kick.
Right off the bat in the third round, Isaev landed another head kick, chopping down on Abdoulrazak.
Isaev displayed excellent defense all match, never letting Abdoulrazak get comfortable. He only gave up points when scampering away from strikes to preserve his lead.
For Abdoulrazak, he delivers his home country their best-ever Olympic result.
Isaev def. Abdoulrazak 6-2.
BRONZE MEDAL MATCHES:
Bianca Walkden (Great Britain) vs. Wiam Dislam (Morocco)
Walkden opened up the scoring in the second round with a vicious head kick, then a push kick to end the round up four.
The British fighter scored another head kick in the third, and put the fight out of reach for Dislam.
Walkden def. Dislam 7-1.
Mahama Cho (Great Britain) vs. Maicon de Andrade Siqueira (Brazil)
After a scoreless first round, Cho scored a head kick for three points, but fell in the process giving Sequeira a point.
Sequeira tied the match in the final round, then scored the winning body kick strike within the final seconds of the match to steal the bronze from Cho.
Siqueira def. Cho 5-4.
Jackie Galloway (United States) vs. Gwladys Epangue (France)
Galloway scored first, registering a body kick. This was the only point of the first round.
The second round went scoreless.
The U.S. fighter scored another body kick early in the final round, but Epangue scored one right back to bring the deficit back to one.
Galloway defended well for the rest of the round, and held on to win the bronze medal.
Galloway def. Epangue 2-1.
Cha Dong-min (South Korea) vs. Dmitriy Shokin (Uzbekistan)
The first round of the match was scoreless, but kicks started landing in the second, with Dong-min taking a 3-2 advantage into the final round.
Shokin equalized halfway through the third round. The third round would end tied.
Early into the sudden death round, Dong-min landed a kick to the body to win the bronze medal.
Dong-min def. Shokin 4-3.
REPECHAGE:
Wiam Dislam (Morocco) vs. Kirstie Alora (Philippines)
Dislam def. Alora 7-5.
Maicon de Andrade Siqueira (Brazil) vs. M’Bar N’Diaye (France)
Siqueira def. N’Diaye 5-2.
Nisha Rawal (Nepal) vs. Gwladys Epangue (France)
Epangue def. Rawal 4-3.
Ruslan Zhaparov (Kazakhstan) vs. Cha Dong-min (South Korea)
Dong-min def. Zhaparov 15-8.