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Dell'Aquila, Wongpattanakit win gold in taekwondo

Vito Dell'aquila (ITA) fights Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi (TUN) in the in the men's -58kg gold medal match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Makuhari Messe Hall A. (James Lang-Usa Today Network)

The first medals in taekwondo were handed out on Sunday, and Italy's Vito Dell'Aquila and Thailand's Panipak Wongpattanakit took the top steps on the podium.

Dell'Aquila entered the men's -58kg gold medal match with Turkey's Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi as the no. 2 seed, but he fould himself in a deficit early - Jendoubi finished the first round with a 5-2 lead. Dell'Aquila got himself back into it, though, winning Round 2 by a score of 6-4 and dominating Round 3, 8-3.

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Dell'Aquila doubled up Jendoubi in the final two rounds, 14-7, en route to the gold medal in his first Olympic appearance. Jendoubi won silver and Korea's Jang Jun won bronze in the men's -58kg.

In the women's -49kg, it was Wongpattanakit who got the better of her Spanish opponent Adriana Cerezo Iglesias, though the bout came down to the wire. Wongpattanakit carried a comfortable lead into the third round, but her lead was trimmed to just one, 11-10, by the end of the bout. Wongpattanakit won gold, Iglesias earned silver and Serbia's Tijana Bogdanovic won bronze.


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