Clip of the Day: Olympic Taekwondo's Finest Moment
by Chris Nelson on Aug 23, 2008 6:57 PM EDT
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Okay, it's not MMA, but this is a martial arts clip worth checking nonetheless. In what will most likely be the most exciting moment of 2008 Olympic taekwondo action, Cuban competitor Angel Matos kicked a referee in the face today after being disqualified for taking too much injury time in his 80kg+ bronze medal match against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov.
The ref, Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, required stitches in his lip, and it's already been suggested that Matos (who spat on the mat and was promptly escorted from the premises) should be has been banned for life by Jin-Suk Yang, president of the World Taekwondo Association -- or, more appropriately, WTF.
More info and images in themachiavellian's FanPost on the matter.
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On the one hand, he seems like he was just being an out-of-control douche.
On the other hand, these Olympics, and especially the combat sports, have been even more corrupt and badly run than before. If an athlete basically decides to throw himself on his sword, with the result of damaging the image of the Olympics and Olympic officiating, I find it hard to condemn him.
What he did is inexcusible. However i do agree with you that the judging in the Taekwondo, Boxing, and wrestling have all had problems. Too be honest with you i couldn’t even watch the boxing after they first aired it. The way they do the scoring is horrible.
Judo hudging has been harsh too.
wait till you see the fight where Suzuki (Japan judo player) gets knocked out of the 2008 Games gets posted somewhere… that said, Suzuki got up, nodded, bowed and left the arena without so much as a word of complaint. Shock sure, but no complaint.
by Ronnie Liddle on Aug 23, 2008 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Bwaaahaha
So this douche sucker-kicks a pudgy little referee in the head, and barely even phases him? haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha!
Gentle, I present to you Kimbo’s next match.
Maybe he should take lessons from Gilbert Yvel – that suckerpunch (-kick?) did seem to be a little week…
by Scott C. Broussard on Aug 23, 2008 9:51 PM EDT reply actions
Having participated in umpteen-zillion TKD tournaments over the years, I know that most competitors are quite used to some biased officiating from time to time. Yeah, the Olympics is the biggest of the big time, and emotions run high, but what he did was inexcusable. He’s a total douche. The ref is probably a black belt, BTW, and has taken a few to the face before, I’d bet.
Yeah I was gonna say, I don’t think we’re giving the ref enough credit. Tough dude.
by Chris Nelson on Aug 23, 2008 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, look at the ref’s hands in the picture above. See how he’s instinctively got his thumbs tucked into a spear hand? As he turned away, he executed a low block in case there was another kick coming. He’s got some skills and that’s the only thing that kept his block from getting knocked off. Pretty good dodge.
by scuzxbucket on Aug 23, 2008 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I was never much of a talented martial artist myself. I’ve always said that my only true skill was my ability to take numerous shots to the head and keep standing. That’s why I’m now a BIG fan of Mr. Chelbat. That’s my style of TKD! Smack! Bleed! Run away! ;-)
by scuzxbucket on Aug 23, 2008 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions
lol!
That reminds me of an old Mick Foley quote, “I don’t like to get hit in the head with chairs, but it’s all I’m good at.”
If you are going to kick someone in the face, don’t choose the guy who happens to be president of the European referee organization in your sport. He just might have a friend or two.
It is also correct as someone guessed above that the ref in question is still active in Taekwondo. He claimed in an interview that this saved him from being knocked out.
Wrestling and boxing: There seem to be an endless amount of foul play beneath the surface in boxing and wrestling. The Swede Ara Abrahamian (yes, I’m biased) rightfully lost his medal when he put his bronze onto the mat. But he was also correct in his protest; there was definitely foul play when he lost his semi final.
How exactly do they (players, refs, whomever) cheat? I’m not familiar with point fighting at all since I believe it to be a bowdlerized form of combat sport. I understand the difficulties of allowing full-contact fighting in a tournament, but it sure is more transparent – a KO is a KO, no disputes…ideally…at least it’s obvious as to what is being protested.
by Scott C. Broussard on Aug 24, 2008 4:15 AM EDT up reply actions
I greco-roman wrestling the ref can have a huge impact. In one of the more ridiculous parts of the current rule the ref pulls either a blue or a red ball out of a bag – supposedly randomly – to determine which wrestler to start on the mat and which to be given the upper hand. In one instance in this olympics the ref could be seen to look carefully into the bag just beore picking.
There have also been clear cases, in this olympics, of people from the national teams admitting to other in the sport that they paid of refs to get the right the decision. Many of the greco-roman matches are very even and warnings often playa critical role. It is often not very hard to give the warning to the guy you want to win.
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