Mobina Nematzadeh of Iran defeated Donia Abu Taleb in the bronze medal play-off in the -49kg division of the taekwondo competition played out inside Paris’ spectacular Grand Palais.
Donia Abu Taleb missed out on becoming the first Saudi Arabian woman to win an Olympic Games medal on Wednesday. The Saudi taekwondo star edged out in a historic Olympic women’s medal pursuit.
The 27-year-old won her last-16 clash against Israel’s Abishag Semberg before losing her quarter-final against Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand, the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist.
She secured a place in the bronze medal play-off by seeing off Morocco’s Oumaima El Bouchti 2-0, but the high-ranked Nematzadeh proved too strong.
“When I started to train for the Olympics, I was sure I wanted something big. Just entering the Olympics wasn’t enough. I wanted more – I wanted a medal,” said Nematzadeh.
Abu Taleb qualified for the Games by winning gold at the 2020 Arab Taekwondo Championship and bronze medals at the Asian and World Championships in 2022.
Earlier this year, she upgraded to gold at the Asian Taekwondo Championships. Saudi women had previously fared poorly at the Olympics.
In 2012, in London, judoka Wojdan Shaherkani became the first Saudi woman to compete at the Olympics. However, her historic debut lasted just 82 seconds, as she was beaten in the first round.
US-born Sarah Attar, another invitee, finished a distant last in her 800m heat on the track.
Attar was one of four Saudi women to compete as wildcards at the 2016 Olympics, and they were followed by two more in Tokyo in 2020.
