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Tunisia's Firas Katoussi captured Olympic gold as he deservedly defeated Iran's Mehran Barkhordari in the final of the men's -80kg taekwondo competition on Friday night.
Katoussi, 28, won the decider two rounds to nil having nicked the opener 4-2 and then showing poise and control to clinch the second 5-1.
The Tunisian found himself trailing 2-0 going into closing stages of the first session, but produced an inspired spinning back kick to the body for a four-point score to steal the round from the stunned Iranian.
It felt pivotal and so it proved. Katoussi masterfully nullified his increasingly desperate opponent and then punished him with a head kick to move to the brink of glory.
The tall Tunisian punched the air as time ebbed away and he knew gold was secure.
His victory follows Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi's bronze in the -58kg class making this a very fruitful taekwondo competition for Team Tunisia.
Earlier in the day, Katoussi, the African champion and a former world bronze medallist, had shown sensational form as he powered into the final.
He had too much for USA's Carl Nickolas 2-0 in the semi-final as he ensured a medal for his nation. Before that Katoussi had eased past Denmark's Edi Hrnic in the quarter-final, which came after a dominant win over Australia's Leon Sejranovic in his opener.
Meanwhile, there was disappointment for Jordan's Julyana Al Sadeq in the women's -67kg division as she lost her quarter-final to Jie Song of China.
Al Sadeq, the no 2 seed, had hopes of going all the way but came up short in a tense last-eight battle that went the full three rounds.
She made Song battle for every point but lost the second and third rounds by scores of 3-2 and 2-1.
The 29-year-old had earlier showcased her ability with a dominant victory over Fiji’s Lolohea Naitasi in her opening contest.
Elsewhere in the women's -67kg division, Egypt's Aya Shehata was also defeated in the last eight. Shehata lost to Belgium's Sarah Charri 2-0.
There was a further blow for a Jordanian team who had begun the day on a high after Zaid Kareem's silver medal the night before.
Saleh El Sharabaty, silver medallist at the Tokyo Games, suffered a shock defeat in his Round of 16 -80kg match against Brazil's Henrique Rodrigues Fernandes.
El Sharabaty lost the opening round 4-1 and was at one point 11-1 down to his Brazilian opponent in the second before making it slightly more respectable at 12-5.
In the same weight class, hopes of a first taekwondo medal for the Refugee Olympic Team were dashed after Farzad Mansouri also lost at the Round of 16 stage.
Mansouri narrowly lost the first round 10-7 to second seed CJ Nickolas. The next round proved a much lower scoring affair with the American taking it 3-1 after Mansouri had an appeal for a head kick rejected.
Mansouri, who was Afghanistan’s flag bearer at the Tokyo Olympics, has settled in the UK having fled the Taliban in 2021.
