Taekwondo
Taekwondo was one of the three sports not shown on TV. I caught exactly one match online, and apparently I was a curse...
- Venue: Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium
- For the U.S., the Lopez siblings were impressive. Mark won silver, while Steven and Diana won bronze. (Their older brother Jean is their coach.) It was the first time since 1904 that three siblings have been on the same Olympic team.
- Steven, however, had won gold at the previous two Olympics. He also hadn't lost since 2002. He had been up 2-1 in the quarterfinals, but the match was sent into OT after a controversial penalty call. Then he lost. Yep, this is the match I watched live. (I had no idea what was happening.)
- The U.S. tried to protest but were refused. They complained because they were apparently pressured into signing a document that said they wouldn't protest at the Olympics. They claimed the international federation (run by Koreans) wanted to put on a "pristine" image at the Games, instead of trying to get things right. Apparently taekwondo is as controversial as boxing.
- After Angel Matos of Cuba was disqualified for taking too much injury time, he took matters into his own hands, er, feet--he kicked the referee in the face! He and his coach were then banned for life, but Fidel Castro supported them...shocker.