Wongpattanakit defends her Olympic taekwondo title and Park restores South Korea's pride in Paris

PARIS — Panipak Wongpattanakit retired on a perfect note as she became the first Thai athlete in any sport to become a two-time Olympic champion on Wednesday.

Wongpattanakit defended her Tokyo Games title to secure Thailand's first gold medal of the Paris Olympics and Park Tae-joon restored South Korea's pride on the opening day of the taekwondo competition.

Wongpattanakit, who confirmed she will end her career, celebrated the gold by grabbing a Thai flag after jumping into her coach's arms.

''I have so much pain,'' she said on the eve of her 27th birthday. ''I had a broken knee. And my ankle, my hip... Now, I have to retire.''

Wongpattanakit, who comfortably won her three opening bouts to reach the final of the 49-kilogram category, trailed in the first round against Guo Qing of China but rallied with two consecutive kicks to the body and head.

Guo fought back to force a decider, but Wongpattanakit prevailed after video reviews showed that she had successfully landed two spectacular head kicks.

Under the new rules introduced in Paris, bouts are decided on a best-of-three format rather than cumulative points.

Park set the record straight by routing his opponent in a brutal final for the gold medal.

''It was my childhood dream,'' Park said.

In the men's 58 kilos class, Park demolished Gashim Magomedov of Azerbaijan, who soldiered on but retired injured.

After contact with his opponent's leg in the opening round, Magomedov crashed to the canvas, clutching his left leg in pain. He was attended to by doctors and managed to resume the fight.

Trailing 7-0 with 14 seconds left, he limped and sat again to receive further treatment, losing the round without scoring a point. Magomedov was helped off the canvas but returned for the second round and continued without threatening his opponent, who capped off his masterpiece with a superb turning kick to the head.

''In Tokyo, South Korea did not get a gold medal, it was a bit frustrating and sad. Today I'm honored and proud. The whole team has worked hard to make sure we were prepared here," Park said.

Mobina Nematzadeh of Iran and Lena Stojkovic of Croatia won bronze medals in the women's tournament. The men's bronze medals went to Cyrian Ravet of France and Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi of Tunisia.

Taekwondo tournaments at the Olympics award two bronze medals, with the losing semifinalists facing two contestants who lost to the finalists in the elimination phase.

Ravet shines for France

Ravet came close to a massive upset in his quarterfinal against Park. Spurred on by the loud support of a partisan crowd holding massive cutouts of their favorite Olympian, he had a two-point lead in the deciding round with 33 seconds left. But the Frenchman could not hold on to his advantage as the South Korean delivered two straight body kicks to turn things around.

Dell'Aquila, the Tokyo champion, fought with an injury in Paris and was defeated 2-0 in the semifinals by Magomedov.

"My abductor was really in flames,'' he said. ''I couldn't fight but for the Olympics I tried anyway. This was my dream.''

Palestine's hopes vanish early

Omar Ismail wanted to inspire the Palestinian youth with a medal in taekwondo amid the Israel-Hamas war, which has claimed more than 39,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

But the teenager's campaign in Paris was brutally ended in the last 16 stage.

Ismail was the only Palestinian athlete to qualify for the Paris Games in his own right. The seven others gained their spots under a wild-card system delivered as part of the universality quota places.

Ismail was born in Dubai to parents who come from the West Bank town of Jenin.

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