PARIS, France (Aug. 30, 2024) - Day Two of the Para Taekwondo competitions at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games marked by several highs and lows as new champions emerged, including first by nations, even as former stars stamped their dominance at the iconic Grand Palais.
Four gold medals were decided on Friday (August 30), with Turkiye, Azerbaijan and China winning their first ever gold medals in Para Taekwondo.
For Azerbaijan in fact it was the first ever -Para Taekwono medal at a Paralympic Games.
Nepal won their historc first ever medal in any Olympic or Paralympic Games when Palesha Goverdhan won her W K44 -57kg bronze medal match. France too achieved a first at home, winning their first Para Taekwondo medal, a silver in front of a raucous crowd that filled the glass-roofed venue.
Among other highlights, Para Taekwondo legend Lisa Kjaer had her last dance at the Grand Palais on the day.
Kjaer, who had an illustrious career with multiple World and European and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics gold, settled for a bronze in Women K44 -65kg.
Mahmut BOZTEKE (TUR) vs Bolor-Erdene GANBAT (MGL) - Men K44 -63kg final
The Men K44 -63kg was one of the fiercely contested catgeories and the final went as expected - thrill gripping the Grand Palais. With both the players - Bozteke and Ganbat - making their debut finals at the Paralympics, the eagerness to win the gold was obvious. However, the Bozteke kept his focus intact to win the match via Golden Round. It was his second medal after Tokyo 2020 Paralympics bronze.
Ayoub ADOUICH (MAR) and reigning World Para Taekwondo champion Antonino Bossolo (ITA) claimed the bronze.
Imamaddin Khalilov (AZE) vs. Fatih Celik (TUR) - Men K44 -70kg
Khalilov, the current World Para Champion, entered the final as the title favourite and he lived up to the biling winning it with a comfortable 15-2 score against Celik. Both the players were playing their first finals in Paris.
Meanwhile, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Juan Diego Garcia Lopez settled for the bronze, so
does Juan Eduardo Samorano of Argentina.
Diallo Djelika (FRA) vs Ana Carolina Silva de Moura (BRA) - Women K44 -65kg
This was one of the most awaited match of the evening with France playing its first finals and a packed crowd made it even more memorbale inspiring Djelika to go for the gold. However, the promising French Para Taekwondoin settled for the Paralympic silver in her debut Games, something she will be very proud of.
Meanwhile, Brazilian Silva de Moura showed yet why she is the best in the catgeory as she add the Paralympic gold to her Worlds title.
Denmark's Lisa Kjaer and the wildcard entrant Christina Gkentzou of Greece settled for the bronze.
Li Yujie (CHN) vs Gamze Gurdal (TUR) - Women K44 -57kg
Making their debuts in a final of Paralympic Games, the fight was expected to be closely contested one. However, it came out as a surprise. Yujie probably played one of the best matches of her day winning it by a 11-0 margin against the Turkiye star. The Chinese also improved her bronze medal with her gold show at Paris while Gurdal achieved her first Paralympic medal after her fifth-place show in Tokyo 2020.
The bronze medals went to Nepalese Goverdhan and Brazilian world champion Silvana Mayara Cardoso Fernandes, who was the title favourite coming into the Games.
Para Taekwondo competition continue on Saturday (August 31) with three finals lined-up on the third and final day at the Grand Palais.
