Abidjan, Ivory Coast- Ivory Coast's Cheick Sallah Cisse defeated Lutalo Muhammad with a last second head kick to win gold in the men's 80kg division. This was Ivory Coast’s first Olympic gold medal in its history.
Cisse's victory gives Ivory Coast their first ever gold medal. The historic victory was received with a lot of emotion in Ivory Coast, said Amadou Ouattara, secretary-general of the Ivorian Taekwondo Federation.
"It’s a feeling of joy. It’s not very often that African nations are winning Olympic medals. So we are very proud," he added.
Ouattara expressed hope the medals will help in developing the sport and bring in more sponsors.
A stalemate for the majority of the first round, Muhammad snuck in a head kick to end the round on top.
In the second round, both competitors gave up points for falling, then Cisse tied the match with a spinning body kick.
With little time remaining in the final round, Muhammad went up two points by landing a body kick, sending his man out of bounds.
Cisse pressed on, and delivered a head kick with one second left to steal the gold medal from the British fighter.
The 22-year-old Ivorian sprinted around the arena as soon as he realized what he had just done. Muhammad ripped his head gear off in disappointment.
Cisse def. Muhammad 8-6.
Teammate Cheick Cisse said it’s often challenging to train at a high level in Africa due to limited resources available.
"We hope that if we get an Olympic medal, it will smooth things up for the younger generation so they can train comfortably across the continent," he said.