Iranian taekwondo star Barkhordari's dream run in Paris Olympics ends with silver
Iran’s Mehran Barkhordari loses to Tunisian opponent Firas Katoussi in the men's taekwondo 80kg final to end up as runner-up, adding a silver medal to the Islamic Republic’s medal tally at the Paris Olympics.
Katoussi beat Barkhordari 2-0 in the men's -80kg gold medal contest on Friday, becoming Tunisia's first Olympic champion in taekwondo.
In the first round, while Barkhordari was ahead, in the last 2 seconds, the Tunisian player scored four points and won.
Barkhordari could not win in the second round and ended his career with a silver medal.
In the first round, Barkhordari faced Jasurbek Jaysunov of Uzbekistan and won in a close fight in the last seconds.
Barkhordari went on to face Simone Aliso, Italy’s holder of 2 world gold medals and won 2-1 in a spectacular fight.
Iran's Mehran Barkhordari beats Italian world champion Simone Alessio 2-1 in taekwondo men's 80kg quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics to advance to semifinals, where he will meet South Korea's Seo Geon-woo.#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/IuZ0bIXFOz
— Press TV at Paris Olympics (@presstvsports) August 9, 2024
Iran's -80kg weight representative then faced South Korea's Seo Geon-woo in the semifinal and won 2-1 to reach the final.
Before the final, Barkhordari finished all three of his fights with a spectacular comeback snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Iran’s taekwondo team has shown stellar performance in the competitions, with Nahid Kiyani earning a silver medal on Thursday and first-time Olympian Mobina Nematzadeh securing a bronze on Wednesday.
The fourth Iranian athlete, Ariyan Salimi, will begin his matches in the 80+ kg category on Saturday.
Taekwondo has a strong history in the Olympics and is regarded as a sport with high medal potential for Iran.
In the Tokyo Olympics, the Iranian team’s wrestling, weightlifting, and taekwondo performance was also impressive, bringing home seven medals, including three gold.
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