(2nd LD) (Olympics) Kim Yu-jin wins gold medal in women's taekwondo

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PARIS, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yu-jin grabbed a stunning gold medal in women's taekwondo at the Paris Olympics on Thursday for South Korea's second title in two days in its traditional martial art.

Kim defeated world No. 2 Nahid Kiani of Iran 2-0 (5-1, 9-0) in the final of the women's -57-kilogram at Grand Palais in the French capital.

Kim, world No. 24, defeated four of the top five athletes in her weight class for the shock medal in her Olympic debut.

"I think all the luck was on my side today," Kim said. "I felt great physically all day. I couldn't be happier."

The taekwondo competition began Wednesday with South Korea's Park Tae-joon winning gold in the men's -58kg.

South Korea has two athletes remaining in taekwondo, with Seo Geon-woo in the men's -80kg Friday and Lee Da-bin in the women's +67kg on Saturday.

"I absolutely think they can both win gold medals," Kim said of her teammates. "Everyone has trained so hard. I think they'll do well and I want to help them the best I can."

Kim's was the 13th gold medal for South Korea in Paris, which ties the country's record for a Summer Games. South Korea also won 13 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and equaled that total four years later in London.

Kim became the fourth South Korean to win gold in this weight class, but first since 2008.

Under new rules introduced for Paris, Olympic taekwondo matches are contested in two-minute rounds and are decided in a best-of-three format.

Points are awarded for a valid punch or kick to the head or to the trunk protectors, as registered by the protector and scoring system (PSS).

Kim won the opening round 5-1, with all five of her points coming in the last 13 seconds of the period.
Kiani was assessed three straight "gam-jeom," or penalties, to hand Kim three points. Kim herself was slapped with a gam-jeom as her lead was cut to 3-1, but she landed a two-point kick to the body just before the finish.

Kim was dominant in the second round. She picked up three points for a kick to the head 34 seconds into the frame. She then piled up six points over the final 34 seconds of the match, with a combination of kicks to the body and gam-jeom penalties against Kiani. The Iranian did not earn a point for her attack.

In the round of 16, Kim defeated Hatice Kubra Ilgun of Turkiye, the 2021 bronze medalist and world No. 5, 2-0 (7-5, 7-2). In the quarterfinals, Kim met world No. 4 from Canada, Skylar Park, and beat her 2-0 (7-6, 9-5).

In a major upset, Kim knocked off Luo Zongshi of China, world No. 1, by the score of 3-0 (7-0, 1-7, 10-3), in the semifinals.

Kim said she was not intimidated going up against those high-ranked opponents.

"I've seen them often at previous competitions, and I've studied them closely on video," Kim said. "I trusted in the work I've put in to get here."

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