The welterweight divisions of the men’s and women’s competitions were completed Friday night, and on the men’s side there was a historic first.
Cheick Sallah Junior Cisse took gold in the division, giving Cote D’Ivoire its first Olympic gold medal in any sport. Cisse won the gold medal bout against Lutalo Muhammad of Great Britain in exciting fashion as well, with a scoring kick to the head in the final seconds giving him the 8-6 victory. Muhammad, who took bronze in London four years ago, had to settle for the silver medal as a result.
WATCH: Cheick Sallah Cisse captures taekwondo 80 kg gold
Taking bronze was Oussama Oueslati of Tunisia and Milad Beigi Harchegani of Azerbaijan, with Oueslati defeating American Steven Lopez 14-5 in his bronze medal bout. Lopez was looking for his fourth Olympic medal, as he took gold in 2000 and 2004 and bronze in 2008.
In the women’s welterweight competition South Korea’s Oh Hye-Ri took gold, as she defeated France’s Haby Niare by the final score of 13-12. The gold medal bout was a matchup of past world champions, with Niare winning the 2013 world title at 67 kg and Oh winning gold at 73 kg last year.
WATCH: Oh Hye-Ri defeats Haby Niare to win gold in women’s 67 kg
Taking bronze was Ruth Marie Christelle Gbagbi of Cote D’Ivoire, winning her nation’s second medal of the night, and Nur Tatar of Turkey. American Paige McPherson was eliminated in the Round of 16 by Farida Azizova of Azerbaijan.
With the medals won by Cisse and Gbagbi, Cote D’Ivoire has now won three medals in its Olympic history.