TEAKWONDO: Two More WUG Bronze Medals

TEAKWONDO:
Two More WUG Bronze Medals
// by Maxey Parrish - U.S. Olympic Committee () // August 26, 2003
2003 World University Games
Taekwondo
Day 5 – Aug. 26
The United States enjoyed a double bronze medal day in Taekwondo as Rufus Hamon (West Palm Beach, Fla./Miami-Dade Community College) in the men’s 62-67 kg class and Stephanie Beckel (Kaneohe, Hawaii/University of Hawaii) in the women’s 55-59 kg class fought their way to World University Games medal stand.
Hamon bowed out between the second and third rounds of a semi final match against Yerkin Aisa of Kazahkstan after aggravating a fractured fibula he suffered at the U.S. Nationals in May. That Hamon even managed to fight two rounds against Aisa showed amazing bravery as he actually suffered the injury in his quarter final bout, a win over Japan’s Kiyoteru Higuchi.
Fighting in pain, the American went up 1-0 early in the first round against Aisa, but the fighter who went on to win the silver medal evened the score late in the opening round and poured it on in the second to take a 5-2 lead before Hamon could go no further.
“After my match against Japan (the quarter final) my leg began to feel like I did when I hurt it back in May. He (the Japanese fighter) back kicked my leg,” Hamon said. “But I feel good about getting a medal, especially after beating the guy from Japan. He’s fought in the World Cup.”
“To do as well as he did was extremely strong,” said Team Leader Rex Hatfield. “He faced a world class athlete from Japan. To win that match with an injury was impressive.”
Korea’s Hyoung-Geun Oh beat Aisa for the gold medal.
Beckel made it all the way to the semi finals where she went down 10-2 to Sae-Rom Kim, the eventual gold medallist from powerhouse Korea. The Korean was ahead by a score of 6-0 at the end of the first round and upped it to 7-1 in the second.
“I was kind of disappointed with my last fight,” she said. “She (Kim) was good. It was already 6-0 in the first round. I tried to stay in the game, but after that I just had to try to go out and get points. I couldn’t take my time at that point. It just didn’t work out.
“But overall it feels good,” Beckel said just before having the medal draped around her neck. “I wanted to do better, but this is OK.”
Beckel had few problems in defeating Russia’s Marian Lyaisheva 13-5 in her preliminary round fight. The American set a blistering pace early, going ahead 6-1 in the opening round. Beckel kept the margin at five in the second round, leading 9-5 heading into the final two minutes.
“I felt really good about my fight against the Russian. She was good. I had a good warm up and a good fight.”
With a medal at stake in the quarter final round, Beckel faced Renata Silva of Brazil and posted another solid 6-3 win. The Team USA fighter came out on fire, building a 4-1 lead in the first round and upping the margin to 6-1 in the second.
“That was a hard fight. She (Silva) was real long. That makes a big difference,” Beckel said.
Hamon drew a first preliminary bye and then squared off against Thailand’s Chanatha Thanaroekchai in the second preliminary, winning 8-6. A furious first round left Hamon ahead 4-3, but the game Thai fighter tied it at five just 30 seconds into the second round. Hamon refused to be rattled and finished the round with a 6-5 lead before wrapping it up in the third.
Hamon’s gutsy quarter final fight against Japan’s Higuchi proved to be a nail-biter as the American pulled out a stunning 7-6 victory late in the third round.
Higuchi jumped to a 1-0 lead early in the first round, but Hamon knotted it at one to end he opening three minutes. Each fighter notched an early second round point, but the Japanese competitor forged ahead at the buzzer at 3-2.
In the deciding three minutes, Higuchi went ahead 5-3 and appeared to be in control. But Hamon nailed a head kick with 30 seconds remaining to make it 5-5. He then struck quickly again to go ahead 6-5 with just 15 seconds remaining. In the blur that was final seconds the fighters exchanged points to give Hamon the win and move him into the semi finals, guaranteeing another U.S. medal.
In all, six Americans won medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and four bronze. Daniel Elkowitz (Houston, Texas/Houston Baptist University) claimed the United States’ first 2003 World University Games gold medal when he defeated Dolas A.Kadir of Turkey in the men’s -54 kg class Taekwondo competition Monday.
On Friday Darcy Kimmich (Aurora, Colo./University of Denver) took a silver medal in the women’s 59-63 kg weight class. On Sunday Rebecca Peterson (Cape Coral, Fla./Edison College) won a 55 kg women’s bronze. The surprising Amanda Thome (Denver, Colo./University of Denver) took the bronze in the women’s –47 kg class on Monday as well.
Outside the Ring
Reduced to a Whisper – Silver medallist Darcy Kimmich worked as hard to support her teammates as she did to win her own medal. The ebullient Kimmich yelled so hard for so many matches, she could only manage a whisper during Tuesday’s action. She could still be seen all over the gym waving her American flag.
Rock Solid -- Two large stone lions guard the entrance to Daegu’s Kyunguk High School Gym. One observer commented that they sit almost as still as the judges scoring the matches inside.
Time to Pig Out – Viktoria Fomenko of Russia decided it was time to break training after winning her gold medal. The next day she trekked to a convenience store/restaurant across the street from the venue to buy a sack full of potato chips, cookies and ice cream.
Thanks for the Pizza – American swimmer Chris Kemp treated the U.S. press officers to pizza during their late work session last night. For some reason nobody believe him when he said, “I went out and bought this for you guys.” Whatever, the pizza was still good.
Thanks for the Memories - Will any of the U.S. delegation ever forget: the elaborate curtains on the busses, the bowing girls in the Dining Hall, the dried octopus and seaweed, the rain and the umbrellas, the persistent and well choreographed cheerleaders, the security people of all kinds and the wonderful Koreans who opened their hearts to us?
You Are Too Kind – One Korean volunteer looked at this press officer’s credential photograph and said, “My, you are photogenic.” It would appear that her Korean-English dictionary needs revision.