![]() The final pitted seventh-seed Zolotic of Team USA – whose biggest achievement in the senior division prior to today was two Grand Prix bronzes - against fifth-seed Tatiana Minina of ROC, a silver medalist at the 2017 World Championships. Remarkably, out of the four fighters who strode onto the field of play for the gold medal matches, only one was an established player on the elite circuit the other three are all relatively new faces. However, she finally lost in her bronze match. In this rollicking format, China took on ROC, winning a close battle, 39-36.Īnd IOC President Thomas Bach visited the Taekwondo competition for the second consecutive day no doubt to cheer for Refugee Taekwondo Athlete Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin, the first EOR athlete to compete in the medal rounds at Tokyo 2020.Īlizadeh Zenoorin had generated coverage in major global media as she put in some superb performances during a tough series of matches earlier the day - including taking out defending champion Jones. Just prior to the medal matches, a showcase was held: The second day of the Mixed-Gender Team Competition. Their appearances in the finals had been widely anticipated. Earlier, double gold medalist Jade Jones of Great Britain had been knocked out of the competition in her first match so, too, had widely fancied Korean superfighter Dae-hoon Lee. The finals capped a day of shock surprises at the Makuhari Messe Hall A in Chiba. ![]() Bronzes went to Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Ling Lo and Turkey’s Hatice Kubra Ilgun in the W-57kg, and to Turkey’s Hakan Recber and China’s Shuai Zhao in the M-68kg. The silver in the W-57kg went to ROC’s Tatiana Minina while silver in the M-68kg was taken by Great Britain’s Bradly Sinden. Zolotic became the first American woman to win a gold in Olympic taekwondo and Rashitov is the first Uzbek to win an Olympic medal of any colour in the sport. “I don’t even think she realized she answered the phone.After a day of upsets that saw two of the game’s biggest names stopped in the prelims, new stars lit up the medal podiumĬHIBA, Japan (July 25, 2021) – Anastasija Zolotic of USA and Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan both made history as they won golds on the second day of the four-day Taekwondo Olympic competition at Tokyo 2020, in the W-57kg and M-68kg categories, respectively. “She was in shock, screaming,” Zolotic said. She celebrated her gold medal with her USA Taekwondo teammates, but also in a FaceTime call with her mother that didn’t go as perfectly as her fights. She is taking college classes after graduating nearly two years early, and her sights are already set on making more history with a second gold.īut first, she plans a multi-continent tour with her medal to see her family, first to her parents - immigrants to the Tampa Bay area from Bosnia and Herzegovina before the family moved to Colorado Springs for Ana’s training three years ago - and then to her relatives back in Europe. More than a year after she had major left wrist surgery and then was forced to train in her basement during the coronavirus pandemic, Zolotic is eager to devote herself to the next Olympic cycle. ![]() She also doesn’t have many superstitions, other than keeping her toenails blue to match her lucky chest protector cover. Zolotic often lets loose with a primal scream before her bouts or between rounds, saying she does it “to get out the nerves I’ve been picking up while I’m waiting for the ref to start - and then just kind of asserting my dominance.” When she was asked by the AP if she was glad to see two-time British Olympic champion Jade Jones knocked out of her bracket early on, Zolotic replied: “Well, I was kind of hoping to fight her in the finals and be the one to knock her off, but somebody else did it for me.” While showing off her impressive athleticism during the most dominant tournament of her young career, she also endeared herself off the floor with her combination of perceptive intelligence and endearing cockiness. I think I can, and hopefully in 2024, if I make it over to Paris, win another gold medal and just keep grinding to LA, by then taekwondo will be all over the map.”Īny sport in need of a new standard-bearer would be overjoyed to have Zolotic, who emerged at the Olympics as an archetypal combat sports star. “I worked my butt off for it, and I hope I can help taekwondo get as popular as it can be in the U.S. “There had better be,” Zolotic said with a laugh. has a solid Olympic record of 10 medals despite taekwondo’s low profile back home compared to fellow combat sports boxing or mixed martial arts, but Zolotic fervently believes there’s a new era of growth coming for taekwondo. ![]() Zolotic has a grand future in her Korean-born martial art defined by acrobatic kicks and often featuring bouts decided by thrilling, last-second scores. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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