Nikolaidis has to settle for Taekwondo silver

Greece's last chance of winning a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics disappeared on Saturday when Alexandros Nikolaidis lost in the final of Taekwondo's heavyweight category. The Greek athlete was beaten by Dongmin Cha of South Korea in a very tight final and had to settle for the silver for the second Games running.

Nikolaidis got two points on the board in the first few seconds of the first round but Cha hit back towards the end with successful kicks of his own, including one to the head which counts for two points, to go 3-2 up at the end of the first two minutes.

Nikolaidis pulled a point back in the second round but Cha hit back, although he was also given half a penalty.

The 29-year-old from Thessaloniki levelled the scores after about 40 seconds of the last round to set up a tense finale. Cha hit back with a kick to the body with just 20 seconds left and Nikolaidis was unable to hit back.

The silver medal takes Greece's overall tally to four - two silver and two bronze.

Nikolaidis beat Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan in the first round, Abdelkader Zrouri of Morocco in the second.

In the semi-final, he got through against Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije of Nigeria with successful kick to the body just three seconds from the end.

Nikolaidis won the silver at the Athens Olympics four years ago after being knocked down in the final by Dae Sung Moon of South Korea.

The silver medal rounds off a great year for Nikolaidis as he also won the European Championship in Rome in April and was given the honour of being the first person to carry the Olympic Flame as it began its journey from Ancient Olympia to Beijing earlier this year.

Source: sportingreece.com

24.08.2008