Márton Viviana, in the 67 kilogram weight group of the taekwondo athletes, confidently won both rounds and won 2-0 in the final, thereby winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
The 18-year-old Hungarian athlete won the European Junior Championship last year, and obtained the Olympic quota at the qualifying competition in Sofia in March. Despite his young age, the UTE Madrid-based talent did not come to the French capital as an underdog, but at the same time, perhaps he also secretly expected what he achieved on the way to the final on Friday's competition day.
The Hungarian, seeded only 12th, faced a very serious challenge for the first time in the person of Ruth Gbagbi, the bronze medalist of the Rio and Tokyo Games, against whom she showed that her nerves are in excellent condition, as she was able to advance in the final round.
In the quarter-finals, she also beat the American Kristina Teachout 2-1, and in the semi-finals she beat the first seed of the Belgians, last year's Grand Prix winner and world champion in 2022, Sarah Chaari, with a spectacular performance.
After the semi-final, Márton said that in the hours before the final, he would fit in a massage, eat a little and, he hopes, sleep a little, and he would be ready for the final.
In the final, the 22-year-old Serbian Aleksandra Perisic was waiting for her, who can already boast a serious record among adults, as she won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships and has already stood on the podium at two European Championships.
The gold match had a magnificent introduction, the Hungarian and Serbian taekwondo players marched from the imposing gallery of the Grand Palais to the fighting arena, and Márton Viviana was the first to be introduced, who marched to the stage determinedly but smiling, followed by Perisic.
At the beginning of the fight, both athletes were careful, in the first minute they tried kicks from a distance, but they were unsuccessful, then suddenly Márton flashed a head kick - which he had already shown several times during the day - and thus led 3-0. After that, Perisic attempted more, but the Hungarian defended all his attempts, and 15 seconds before the end of the period, he kicked to the body and already had a 5-0 lead. In the last seconds, an unsuccessful Serbian challenge and warnings followed each other, which did not affect Márton's confident stage success (7-1).
After the break, the final was once again calmer. At the beginning of the second two minutes, there was no appreciable action, then after almost a minute, the Serb found a body (0-2), to which Márton had an answer and equalized with a nice kick.
The competitor from UTE Madrid remained focused on the continuation and with 51 seconds before the end he delivered another body kick (4-2), which brought him very close to the gold medal.
After that, you could expect a big move from Perisic, but the Serbian seemed a bit indecisive and confused, his attempts were easily deflected by the Hungarian teenager, and he also avoided the warning, so he routinely defended the last seconds with impressive confidence, and then began to celebrate obliviously.
Márton celebrated with the flag of Viviana's birthplace, the Canary Islands, and then with the Hungarian flag, dancing for several minutes in the pashto.
Márton Viviana won the first Olympic medal in the history of Hungarian taekwondo, and at the same time, the Hungarian delegation in Paris achieved the 15th podium and the fifth first place.
MTI
