Great Britain, Korea Clinch Gold Medal on 3rd Day of Taekwondo Competition at 1st Youth Olympic Games

Great Britain and Korea won one gold medal each on the third day of the taekwondo competition at the 1st Youth Olympic Games on Aug. 17, 2010 in Singapore.

In the women’s -55kg final match, Great Britain’s Jade Jones needed a fourth sudden-death round to beat Vietnam’s Thanh Thao Nguyen for the gold medal.

The bronze medal in the women’s division went to Singapore’s Shafinas Abdul Rahman and Sweden’s Jennifer Agren. Singapore earned two bronze medals in taekwondo in two days.

The taekwondo competition, which drew 99 young athletes from 66 countries, takes place on the fourth floor of the Suntec International Convention Center in downtown Singapore.

In the men’s -63kg weight category, Korea’s Byeong-deok Seo beat Portugal’s Mario Silva 9-5 in the final match to earn his country the gold medal. Mr. Seo reached the final match as he outpointed his semifinal opponent, Mexico’s Alejandro Valdes, 5-0.

Mexico’s Alejandro Valdes and Turkey’s Berk Sungu won the bronze medal each in the men’s category.

In the afternoon, Dr. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, visited the taekwondo venue to watch four matches for about 1 hour, together with WTF President Chungwon Choue. Several other IOC members also visited the taekwondo venue.

Members of the WTF Taekwondo Presentation Team greeted the IOC president at the venue entrance, taking Dr. Rogge by surprise. When leaving the venue, the IOC president praised the taekwondo competition as “well-organized.”

As part of the IOC-organized Culture and Education Programs (CEP), the WTF Taekwondo Presentation Team, together with the Singapore Taekwondo Demonstration Team, offered taekwondo demonstration and training sessions for the athletes and spectators in the afternoon on the third floor of the International Convention Center.