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Taekwondo's Olympic debut soured by heartbreak
= = ATTENTION - ADDS Poe quotes, Moreno defeat /// SYDNEY, Sept 27 (AFP) - The Korean-born fighting sport of taekwondo made its Olympic debut with a heartbreak Wednesday as American fighter Kay Poe stumbled in the first round following a big build-up over her story of friendship. Denmark's Hanne Hoegh Poulsen, the 1998 world junior champion, came from 1-3 down to beat Poe 5-3 in a spirited battle of teenagers in the women's under-49kg flyweight at the State Sports Centre. Poe, 18, had been widely favoured not only as the 1998 World Cup holder but also as the darling of the four-day Sydney Games taekwondo competition. She earned her Olympic berth only after her training mate and best friend Esther Kim gave it away when Poe was injured in the US Olympic trial semi-finals last May. Poe managed to reach the final against Kim with a dislocated left kneecap but she could only limp painfully onto the mat. Kim bowed out of the match. Poe and Kim, 21, live five minutes from each other in Houston and have been like sisters for the past 13 years, both training under Esther's father Jin. The story has captivated the world of sport and prompted International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch to invite Kim, her father and coach Kim Jin-Won, and her mother Yong-O to the Games. "It's disappointing to say the least. I was trying to play a safe game and she caught me unexpectedly," Poe said. "I lost. It happens to the best of athletes." Poe's hope of fighting for the bronze through a consolation round of those who lose to eventual finalists was squashed when Poulsen was beaten by Australian Lauren Burns in the semi-finals. Kim looked sad for a moment but came back to her usual mode of positive thought. "I'm happy, though, as she's been having fun," said Kim. "She got this fine smile on her face at the end and I'm proud of her." Kim said she did not care about the result because Poe had been already a "winner" for what she had been through. "She has defeated some huge battles, some huge struggles in her life." Kim added that after the Games she and Poe would "get away from taekwondo for a little while and relax". The US team suffered another shock when World Cup holder Juan Miguel Moreno lost 0-2 to Hungarian Joseph Salim in the men's under-58kg flyweight first round. Salim fell in the semi-finals, crushing Moreno's bid for a bronze to add to the silver medals he won when the taekwondo was a demonstration sport at the 1988 and 1992 Games in Seoul and Barcelona. Taekwondo, originating in Korea more than 2,000 years ago, means "the way of hand and foot" in Korean. It is also a philosophy or a way of life to its practitioners. The art of kicking, punching, chopping, thrusting and blocking -- and a lot of yelling -- was refined into the modern format in the 1950's and became part of military training, meaning that virtually all able-bodied Korean males practice taekwondo. The taekwondo world championships have been staged since 1973 with the number of practitioners reaching an estimated 50 million in about 160 countries. A total of 52 men and 48 women were selected through world and regional qualifiers, organised by the World Taekwondo Federation, for the four men's and four women's tournaments at the Sydney Games.
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