Taekwondo: close but no cigar (twice)
23-year-old Jaoud Achab had come for nothing less than Olympic Gold in the men's featherweight (58-68 kg), but had a tough draw. He made it into to the last 4, but lost his semi-final 6-1 to Alexey Denisenko. The Russian is the London 2012 bronze winner who would later have to be content with the silver as Ahman Abughaush, a 20-year-old student from Amman, claimed Jordan's first ever Olympic Gold.
In the fight for the bronze, world champion Achab led his opponent Lee Daehoon of South Korea 5-4 with just 25 seconds to go. But then Lee managed to hit Achab's head with his foot, scoring 3 points and taking the lead. Achab took risks and eventually lost it 7-11.
Postwoman Asemani bumps into Jade Jones
In the women's featherweight (49-57 kg), Raheleh Asemani was denied the bronze by Egypt's Hedaya Wahba (photo below, Asemani in red) who took it with the smallest score, 1-0. Both opponents had an equally balanced match, but Wahba came out on top in extra time, her specialty.
Asemani, a refugee from Iran who had acquired the Belgian nationality in the run-up to the Games, had lost her quarter-final against Britain's Jade Jones 7-2. Jones was the defending Olympic champion and went on to extend her title as she beat Eva Calvo Gomez of Spain in the final. (bottom photo: podium ceremony)
