In the men’s over-80 kilograms category, Turkey’s Emre Kutalmis Atesli started in dominating fashion following a head kick to take a 3-0 lead against Olympic champion Cheick Sallah Cisse from Cote D’Ivoire.

However, Cisse fought back with a punch and gam-jeom to make it 3-2.

The duo were tied at 6-6 with seven seconds left when Atesli’s last kick connected cleanly with Cisse to win the first round 8-6.

An unfortunate injury 10 seconds into the second round forced Cisse to retire as Atesli won gold.

In the women’s under-67kg, France’s Magda Wiet Henin took an early lead in the first round against Jordan’s Julyana Al-Sadeq.

But Al-Sadeq fought back with a spinning kick to take a 7-3 lead.

That was followed by another body kick that finished the round 15-3 in in Al-Sadeq’s favour.  

The second round also saw Wiet Henin take the lead through two gam-jeoms.

A front kick in the dying moments helped the Frenchwoman win the round 4-1.

In the third round, Wiet Henin opened the scoring with a kick to the body.

With score 2-0 in Wiet Henin’s favour, three consecutive kicks helped her seal the match and the gold medal.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Dabin Lee of South Korea was pitted against Puerto Rico’s Crystal Weekes in the women’s over-67kg.

While it was Lee who took an early lead, Weekes responded with a kick to the head.

With 15 seconds to go, Weekes was in a winning position, but  a kick to the head from Lee bagged her the first round 5-4.

In the second round, Weekes, with another kick to the head, took the lead.

With 25 seconds remaining, the Puerto Rican was leading 4-0 before a stunning kick to the body followed by a head kick knocked Weekes to the ground as Lee won 7-4 to take gold.

The World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome is set to conclude tomorrow with the women’s under-49kg and men’s under-80kg events.