Coach Oh Hye-ri, who saved Seo Gun-woo, stormed + protested

Seo Kun-woo made a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Joaquin Churchill Martinez (6-8, 16-16, 14-1) in the men's 80kg round of 16 taekwondo at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Grand Palais, Paris, France, on the 9th (local time).

In Korean Taekwondo at this competition, Park Tae-joon of the men's 58kg class and Kim Yoo-jin of the women's 57kg class held a medal ceremony for two consecutive days.

Seo Kun-woo, who took over the baton under good circumstances, had the most high expectations in the Korean national team. Seo won the World Grand Prix Final of the World Taekwondo Federation in December last year by beating Olympic No. 1 Simone Alessio of Italy, 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Salih El-Sharabati of Jordan and bronze medalist Safe Aisa of Egypt.

Ranked fourth in the Olympics, the gold medal was considered the most promising among Korean taekwondo athletes. However, it was not an easy match starting from the round of 16. Martinez, the ambush, won six points in the first round 2-4, turning the game around 4-8. Seo Kun-woo's last-minute offensive failed, forcing him to concede the first round.

Notably, the second round was more defensive. The score gap widened to 6-15 due to Martinez's aggression. In fact, a 9-point score makes it difficult to catch up. Still, Seo successfully kicked the opponent team's points in a row and ended the round tied at 16-16.

Due to the revised rules at the Tokyo Olympics, it is a principle that the player with many points through the rotation technique wins when the round is tied. In this case, Seo Gun-woo made two rotational attacks and Martinez made one rotational attack, so it was heartfelt that Seo Gun-woo's victory in the round was declared.

However, the referee suddenly declared victory for Martinez. Seo's Paris Olympics could be concluded as it was due to misjudgment. Coach Oh Hye-ri, who continued cheering and directing outside the stadium, rushed into the stadium and protested the referee's decision with a "Kin action."

Coach Oh Hye-ri's efforts to prevent the misjudgment worked. It was confirmed that Seo Geon-woo recorded more rotational attacks after the referee accepted Oh Hye-ri's strong action. As a result, the second round was corrected to Seo's victory.

Seo showed off his skills in the third round, which could have been gained due to protests. Seo quickly scored 10 points and ran away, solidifying the situation to 12-1. On top of that, he made a dramatic 2-1 advance to the quarterfinals by bringing his team to the third round based on the principle that if a player scores more than 12 points in the round, he will be victorious.

Seo Kun-woo, who looked sad, walked down the field with an awkward smile and headed for coach Oh Hye-ri as the dramatic come-from-behind victory was smooth. In the second round, coach Oh Hye-ri, who protested for Seo Kun-woo more passionately than anyone else, continued his journey to the gold medal by giving Seo a good night.

https://www.ibeautylab.co.kr/18/