'Golden Kick' Park Tae-jun, First Ever Men's Taekwondo 58kg Champion [Paris Olympics]

Park Tae-jun (20, Kyung Hee University) became the first Korean athlete to win a gold medal in the men's 58kg taekwondo category at the Olympics. South Korea, which suffered the humiliation of 'no gold' at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, succeeded in restoring the honor of the founding country.

Park Tae-jun (world ranking 5th) won by withdrawal against Gasim Magomedov (Azerbaijan, 26th) in the men's 58kg taekwondo final at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on the 7th (local time).

On the 7th (local time), at the Grand Palais Taekwondo Arena in Paris, France, Park Tae-jun of Korea celebrated after winning the gold medal by defeating Gasim Magomedov of Azerbaijan in the men's 58kg final at the 2024 Paris Olympic Taekwondo competition.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Tae-jun scored the first point with a body hit as the match began and aggressively pressed in the early stages. However, suddenly, 1 minute and 7 seconds before the end of the round, Magomedov collapsed on the ground complaining of pain in his left shin during a kick. After a few minutes of rest, Magomedov calmed the pain and the match resumed, but it was not enough to turn the declining momentum.

After receiving a penalty once and continuously allowing body attacks, Magomedov was overwhelmed and lost the first round 0-9 to Park Tae-jun. After the round ended, Magomedov, unable to walk properly, was helped off the court by his coach but returned to the arena enduring the pain, drawing applause from the audience.

However, Park Tae-jun showed no mercy and continued his kicking offense in the second round. Magomedov, struggling to hold on, once again complained of pain and collapsed about one minute before the end of the match with the score gap widened to 1-13. Magomedov then could not get up and withdrew, confirming Park Tae-jun's victory.

With this, Park Tae-jun became the first Korean male athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the 58kg category. The previous best result was a silver medal won by 'taekwondo star' Lee Dae-hoon, coach of Daejeon City Hall, at the 2012 London Olympics.

It is also the first time in 16 years that a Korean male athlete has won a gold medal. Since Son Tae-jin (68kg category) and Cha Dong-min (over 80kg category) at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Park Tae-jun is the first to stand at the top of the podium. Park Tae-jun, who was first selected as a national representative in 2022 while attending Hanseong High School, is competing in his first Olympics.

This is the twelfth gold medal won by the Korean team at the Paris Olympics. Adding just one more will tie the record for the most gold medals ever won, matching the 13 golds achieved at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games.