South Korea bagged their third taekwondo gold and Iran struck their first at the Beijing Olympics Friday while a refereeing controversy crushed American Steven Lopez's dream of a three-peat. Iran's Hadi Saei beat European bronze medallist Mauro Sarmiento of Italy 6-4 in the men's -80kg welterweight final to lift the second Olympic gold of his career after winning the -68kg title at the Athens Games four years ago.
In the women's -67kg welterweight final, South Korea's double world champion Hwang Kyung-Seon beat Canada's Karine Sergerie, the world champion in the 59-63kg class, a day after Son Tae-Jin and Lim Su-Jeong also won gold for Korea. But the fairy tale run of Lopez, which included four world and two Olympic titles came to a disputed end.
He bowed to Sarmiento in the quarter-finals 2-1 after he was given a one-point penalty for the lifting of a shin which was ruled an illegal kick by Indonesia referee Oh Il-Nam but claimed as a defensive move by Lopez against the Italian's attack. The US team protested but to no avail as member countries of the World Taekwondo Federation had earlier signed a document pledging not to make a protest, team leader Herb Perez said.
The protest is "unacceptable," the governing body's jury said in a statement, citing unspecified rules.
"I feel I should have been in the final but unfortunately some blatant calls were made," 29-year-old Lopez said. "When it comes to a sport where there are judges, it sometimes involves human error," he added. "I cannot control what the judges do." Lopez fought back through the second-chance repechage round of losers to win one of two bronze medals, adding to the silver and bronze won by his brother and sister.
"It's hard but I am happy with the bronze. It's better than nothing," Steven said. Mark Lopez, 26, grabbed the men's -68kg featherweight silver and Diana, 24, the women's -57kg featherweight bronze on Thursday.
Each country can enter a maximum four competitors, two men and two women, to the Olympic taekwondo with eight titles on offer, a quota originally intended to prevent South Korea from a medal monopoly. They won three when the sport made its Olympic debut in 2000 but the total slipped to two in Athens before improving to three titles from three attempts in Beijing.
For Iranian Saei, 32, the gold was a reward for the family sacrifices he has had to make. "I had a long and tough road to get here," he said. "I didn't go home. I was always at training camps. I was here only for the gold medal." Hwang, a 22-year-old university student, was injured in an early match and fought the pain barrier to win her gold.
"I even thought about giving up. But I kept going and fortunately I won." The Lopezs are the first trio of siblings to represent the United States at the same Olympics in the same sport since 1904. They are also the first US family trio to medal, as the Tritschler brothers all missed out in gymnastics 104 years ago. The Lopez family also won gold medals together at the 2005 world championships, a feat which boosted their value as a marketing package at home.
"The Lopezes are the best thing that's happened to the sport. Everyone looks at us," Steven said. "We have put the spotlight on taekwondo." Although he was disappointed at not winning a third gold in Beijing he still had London in 2012 in his sights. "I really love taekwondo. I will continue and enjoy my games."