All eyes were on the United States' CJ Nickolas heading into the 2024 Olympic taekwondo competition.
The top American in a deep Olympic field, Nickolas hoped to win the United States' first gold medal in men's taekwondo since 2004. But the 23-year-old missed the podium in Paris.
Other top stories in Paris included the hometown run of France's Althea Laurin in the women's heavyweight class and 18-year old American Kristina Teachout claiming women's welterweight bronze. Here's a look at those top moments that made taekwondo in 2024 an event to remember.
Medal Table
| Country | Gold- Silver- Bronze |
Total |
|---|---|---|
| Iran | 1 - 2 - 1 | 4 |
| South Korea | 2 - 0 - 1 | 3 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 - 1 - 0 | 2 |
| France | 1 - 0 - 1 | 2 |
| Tunisia | 1 - 0 - 1 | 2 |
| China | 0 - 1 - 1 | 2 |
| Hungary | 1 - 0 - 0 | 1 |
| Thailand | 1 - 0 -0 | 1 |
| Azerbaijan | 0 - 1 - 0 | 1 |
| Great Britain | 0 - 1 - 0 | 1 |
American star Nickolas doesn't earn a medal
Tunisia's Firas Katoussi won the gold medal in the men's welterweight division after defeating Mehran Barkhordari of Iran in the gold medal bout.
Nickolas lost to Katoussi in the semifinals after a kick to the body in the bout's final seconds. Nickloas kept the pressure on Katoussi but didn't connect with enough significant shots when it mattered most.
Simone Alessio then defeated Nickolas in a bronze medal bout to end the American's podium dreams. Nickolas attempted to wow the crowd with his flashy style, however he fell short against the Italian.
"I put the raw version of myself out there for everybody to see. And it was a massive risk and I failed," Nickolas said. "I gotta do some soul searching to figure out what that means. [People] don't want to just see crazy kicks. They want to see me win. And I need to figure out how I win. How do I turn these into wins?"
FULL REPLAY: Men's 80kg Finals
Medalists (Men's 80kg)
Gold: Firas Katoussi (Tunisia)
Silver: Mehran Barkhordari (Iran)
Bronze: Simone Alessio (Italy)
Bronze: Edi Hrnic (Denmark)
Laurin wins on home soil
Laurin won France's first taekwondo gold in front of an electric crowd at the Grand Palais.
The 22-year-old took the victory at the last moment with a dynamic kick to the head to make history for the French.
"I'm very happy to have won my first Olympic gold medal... It's just incredible what's happening tonight, especially in Paris in front of the French public," Laurin told reporters.
"It was very intense to hear all the people... I'm not necessarily used to that, so discovering the atmosphere was quite something and in the end I got used to it really well. I acclimatized like crazy," she said.
Laurin won a bronze in Tokyo, showing immense improvement in Paris en route to a heart-warming hometown win.
FULL REPLAY: Women's 67+kg Finals
Medalists (Women's 67+kg)
Gold: Althea Laurin (France)
Silver: Svetlana Osipova (Uzbekistan)
Bronze: Lee Da-Bin (South Korea)
Bronze: Nafia Kus (Türkiye)
Teachout wins only American medal
Teachout won the lone American taekwondo medal in Paris, claiming a bronze in the women's 67kg class.
The 18-year-old defeated China's Song Jie in the bronze medal bout, contributing to the United States' Olympics-high 126 total medals.
Teachout discussed her journey to the Olympics, qualifying for the Paris Games and taking home a bronze medal.
"I had a hamstring injury in my first year as a senior, and that took me out of a lot of big competitions that would have set me up to have an easier qualification. But I've always had the harder route in sports," Teachout said. "And even getting this fricking bronze. It wasn't the best, it was the hardest route to get a medal. Having to go through the motions of losing and, you know, get it back together and fight. So yeah, it's been an emotional journey."
Medalists (Women's 67kg)
Gold: Viviana Marton (Hungary)
Silver: Aleksandra Perisic (Serbia)
Bronze: Kristina Teachout (United States)
Bronze: Sarah Chaari (Belgium)