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Rio 2016 Promises more Action, Music and Drama
After responding to criticisms from athletes and coaches to make the sport fairer, the WTF then turned its attention to the spectator experience. At Rio 2016, personally selected walk-in music for the athletes, acrobatic performances and sport demonstrations will be used to engage the public.
The competition area has a new format: changing from a square to an octagon, which prevents athletes going on the defensive in the corners of the mat. Another move to make competitors more active was to change the rules to include penalties each time an athlete went a certain time without attacking.
Organized by Rio 2016 in partnership with the Brazilian Taekwondo Confederation, the test event featured 64 athletes from 15 countries in four of the eight Games categories (women’s -49kg and -57kg; and men’s -58kg and +80kg).
In the women’s -49kg category, Iris Sing, the only Brazilian to have qualified for the Games, fell in the qualifiers, leaving for compatriot Talisca Reis the task of climbing atop the podium at Carioca Arena 1, which she did after a close contest against Huai-Hsuan Huang of China. Thailand’s Napaporn Charanawat and Yasmina Aziez of France completed the podium, sharing bronze.
Among the women in the -57kg category, world champion Mayu Hamada of Japan confirmed her position as favourite by winning the final against Yu Chuang Chen of Chinese Taipei. Fenfen Shao of China and Canada’s Evelyn Gonda took bronze.
In the men’s competition, Iranian Armin Hadipour got the better of Bragança to win the -58kg category. Ren-Wei Dong of Chinese Taipei and Luisito Pie of the Dominican Republic ended the competition with bronze.
Among the heavyweights (+80kg), two-time world champion and current world no.2 Dmitry Shokin proved that he can continue to make history for Uzbekistan by taking gold. The podium was completed with silver for Jonathan Healy of the USA and bronze medallists Yassine Trabelsi of Tunisia and M’bar N’diaye of France.
Source: WTF
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