PARIS: South Korea's Park Tae-Joon won the Olympic gold medal in the men's taekwondo flyweight division on Wednesday, beating Azerbaijan's Gashim Magomedov who withdrew from the match in the second and claimed silver.
Park, who won the World Championship title in the 54kg category last year, officially won only one round 9-0. When the match stopped, he was leading 13-1 in the second round.
Magomedov declared defeat, following several breaks to the game due to an apparent injury to his left leg.
Park's win helps swing South Korea back to the forefront of the sport, in which it failed to win any medal at the previous Tokyo Games.
"It is meaningful because it was my childhood dream," Park said, adding that he had dreamt about the Olympics ever since the London 2012 Games, and that Turkey's gold medallist Servet Tazegul was his role model.
"Korea didn't have gold in the Tokyo Olympic Games, and it was a little bit sad," Park said.
"I didn't feel any pressure about this because all the athletes from Team Korea, they all do their best. I didn't feel that much pressure. I just enjoyed this moment."
South Korea, where taekwondo was born, still dominates the Olympics but has lately seen several other nations winning medals, becoming one of the most accessible sports.
France's Cyrian Ravet and Tunisia's Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi won the bronze medals. --REUTERS