Taekwondo Grudge Match in Rio off After Surprising Loss

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The taekwondo grudge match that was supposed to happen at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will not come off.

But in a surprising result Friday in the men’s 80-kilogram division, Cook went out in the first round, losing to Taiwan’s Liu Wei-Ting 14-2.

Both fighters will begin their campaign for taekwondo gold in the men’s -80kg competition later. ‘I just feel like I’ve let everyone down after everything I sacrificed’. But it was Liu who was in control Friday.

Speaking on Radio 4 yesterday, Iulian Fruntasu, the Moldovan Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said that Cook had “no connection” to Moldova and had not lived there, but that they thought him a very talented sportsman and were happy to give him a passport.

Lutalo Muhammad was given the nod ahead of Cook for London 2012 and won a bronze medal further adding fuel to the heated debate as to who should of gone to the games.

He abandoned the British taekwondo academy ahead of the London Games after they declined to select him for their team, despite being top-ranked. Instead, they chose Lutalo Muhammad, then ranked 56th in the world. He said the two were definitely not friends and that he was looking forward to settling the score on the mat in Rio.

Muhammad hasn’t eased the situation between the pair by claiming that he is a better fighter than Cook however the face off between the pair will have to wait as they have to get past their round of 16 opponents first.

Six-time world champion Steven Lopez and Iranian world number one Mahdi Khodabakhshi are also set to compete.

Cook’s hopes of going through the bronze medal repechage ended when Liu was beaten in the quarter-finals.