Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's +67 kg

The women's +67 kg competition in taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on 23 August at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium.

Women's +67 kg
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium
Date23 August 2008
Competitors16 from 16 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) María del Rosario Espinoza  Mexico
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Nina Solheim  Norway
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Sarah Stevenson  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Natália Falavigna  Brazil
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Competition format

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The main bracket consisted of a single elimination tournament, culminating in the gold medal match. Two bronze medals were awarded at the taekwondo competitions. A repechage was used to determine the bronze medal winners. Every competitor who lost to one of the two finalists competed in the repechage, another single-elimination competition. Each semifinal loser faced the last remaining repechage competitor from the opposite half of the bracket in a bronze medal match.[1]

Controversy

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The quarterfinal match between Sarah Stevenson of Great Britain and China's Chen Zhong on August 23 was plagued by controversy. Chen Zhong had led 1-0 through most of the match but 4 seconds before the end, Stevenson landed a clear strike to the face of her opponent. However, only half the judges recorded the hit which was thus not registered, dashing Stevenson's olympic hopes of gaining her the two points that would have secured her a quick victory. Stevenson's coach was furious and protested to the referee and judges, but initially Zhong was awarded the match. The British team protested for over an hour and on seeing the clear video footage of the strike to the face, unprecedently in the sport of Taekwondo, the judges decision was repealed and it was Stevenson who went through to the semi-finals against María del Rosario Espinoza of Mexico.[2] Espinoza however, with a disoriented crowd looking on at the loss of their Chinese gold medal hope, secured a clear victory over Stevenson and went on to win gold, whilst Stevenson took bronze in the bronze medal match against the Egyptian Noha Abd Rabo.

On announcing the change of result in the quarter-final, the tournament director said:

"The competition supervisory board has looked into this matter deeply, has made video analysis which has been open to all the referees and judges. In applying paragraph two of page 64 of the competition rules of the World Taekwondo Federation we have to change this result and we have to declare the British player as winner. We are very sorry to the spectators of China but justice is first. Thank you for understanding."

Schedule

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All times are China standard time (UTC+8)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 23 August 2008 09:00
15:00
17:00
20:00
Preliminary round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final

Qualifying Athletes

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Athlete Country
Nina Solheim   Norway
Noha Abd Rabo   Egypt
Che Chew Chan   Malaysia
Evgeniya Karimova   Uzbekistan
Lorena Benites   Ecuador
Carmen Marton   Australia
Natália Falavigna   Brazil
Kyriaki Kouvari   Greece
Khaoula Ben Hamza   Tunisia
María del Rosario Espinoza   Mexico
Karolina Kedzierska   Sweden
Rosana Simon   Spain
Chen Zhong   China
Adriana Carmona   Venezuela
Nadin Dawani   Jordan
Sarah Stevenson   Great Britain

Results

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Legend
  • PTG — Won by points gap
  • SUP — Won by superiority
  • OT — Won on over time (Golden Point)

Main bracket

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Preliminary round Quarterfinals Semifinals Gold medal match
            
1   Nina Solheim (NOR) 9
16   Noha Abd Rabo (EGY) 3
  Nina Solheim (NOR) 3
  Che Chew Chan (MAS) 1
8   Che Chew Chan (MAS) 5
9   Evgeniya Karimova (UZB) 4
  Nina Solheim (NOR) (SUP) 2
  Natália Falavigna (BRA) 2
5   Lorena Benites (ECU) 0
12   Carmen Marton (AUS) 2
  Carmen Marton (AUS) 2
  Natália Falavigna (BRA) 5
4   Natália Falavigna (BRA) 3
13   Kyriaki Kouvari (GRE) 1
   Nina Solheim (NOR) 1
  María del Rosario Espinoza (MEX) 3
6   Khaoula Ben Hamza (TUN) 0
11   María del Rosario Espinoza (MEX) 4
  María del Rosario Espinoza (MEX) 4
  Karolina Kedzierska (SWE) 2
3   Karolina Kedzierska (SWE) 5
14   Rosana Simon (ESP) 4
  María del Rosario Espinoza (MEX) 4
  Sarah Stevenson (GBR) 1
7   Chen Zhong (CHN) 3
10   Adriana Carmona (VEN) 1
  Chen Zhong (CHN) 1 1
  Sarah Stevenson (GBR) 0 2
2   Nadin Dawani (JOR) 2
15   Sarah Stevenson (GBR) 3

Repechage

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References

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  1. ^ "Taekwondo – Competition format". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ^ Nichols, Pete (23 August 2008). "Olympics: Stevenson wins bronze after day of high controversy". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2013.