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Alba, Walkden highlight bronze medalists on last day of taekwondo competition

Posted at 9:15 AM, Jul 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-27 19:44:16-04

Taekwondo wrapped up Tuesday morning with Dejan Georgievski and Milica Mandic taking home gold medals, but several others are headed home with hardware of their own.

Men's 80+kg

Rafael Alba of Cuba won the first medal of his Olympic career by defeating Sun Hongyi of China in a low-scoring 5-4 bout. As impressive as his work on the mat was, his celebration may have been even better after he tackled his trainer to the ground out of pure joy.

South Korea's In Kyo-Don also earned a bronze medal by taking down Ivan Konrad Trajkovic of Slovenia. Like Alba, this was also his first-ever Olympic medal.

Women's 67+kg

Jade Jones may not have medaled for Great Britain for a third-straight Olympics, but Bianca Walkden did. The 29-year-old handily defeated Aleksandra Kowalczuk of Poland to earn her second bronze medal in as many Olympics. The Brits continue to bring home hardware in the taekwondo circuit.

France's Althea Laurin also earned herself a bronze by beating Aminata Charlene Traore of Ivory Coast. The match was ended three seconds early as Traore was too exhausted to further compete. This also marks Laurin's first medal at the Olympics.