Crismanich Breaks Argentina’s Gold Medal Drought at the London Games

London Olympics 2012

Sebastián Crismanich is making history at the 2012 Olympic Games

In an all-Latino final, the 26-year-old Argentinean fighter defeated Nicolas Garcia of Spain to claim Olympic taekwondo gold on Friday in the men’s 80-kilogram division at the London Games. Garcia had to settle for silver.

Sebastián Crismanich

In what proved to be a cautious final, both fighters seemed reluctant to attack and spent most of the match simply blocking each other’s kicks. Crismanich finally managed to land a body shot with eight seconds remaining to win 1-0.

Along with giving Argentina its first Olympic medal in taekwondo, Crismanich’s victory makes him the first individual athlete to win a gold medal for Argentina in some 64 years.

Sebastián Crismanich

It’s the first Olympic medal for Crismanich, who won the Pan American Games title last year.

In most of his matches on Friday, the Argentinean fighter was on the attack early, catching his opponents off guard with a rapid succession of body shots and head kicks.

The bronze medals were won by Lutalo Muhammad of Great Britain and Mauro Sarmiento of Italy.