Olympics: Sarah Chaâri wins bronze in women's -67kg taekwondo

Taekwondo -67kg European champion Sarah Chaâri won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games on Friday, beating Ozoda Sobirjonova from Uzbekistan in a tense three rounds.

Chaâri beat Sobirjonova 2-1 in the battle for bronze. Earlier on Friday, she beat Madelyn Andrea Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic in the first round and then qualified for the semi-finals after defeating Egypt's Aya Shehata.

In the semi-final, she lost to Hungary's Viviana Márton, who will battle for gold against Aleksandra Perišić from Serbia later on Friday.

At just 19, Chaâri had already won two major titles before winning her first Olympic medal. After becoming world champion in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2022, she won the European title in Belgrade, Serbia, in May this year.

Born in Charleroi, she is also a full-time medical student at the Université libre de Bruxelles. She wears a headscarf during competitions, something the French delegation has expressly forbidden its athletes to do at the Olympic Games.

"Some strong athletes cannot even participate simply because they wear a religious symbol," she told De Standaard. "And they could mean a lot to France. I think it's great that, as a Belgian, I can. We are allowed to express what we stand for."

Taekwondo tournaments at the Olympic Games award two bronze medals. The second bronze in the women's -67kg event went to Kristina Teachout from the US, after she beat China's Ji Sung.

^{© BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE}