South Korean wrestler Kim Hyeon-Woo overcome eye injury to win gold
Kim Hyeon-Woo overcame a major black eye to win gold
South Korean wrestler Kim Hyeon-Woo pulled off a remarkable victory in lightweight final despite being hampered by a huge black eye which meant he could not see out of one eye for most of the competition.
Kim became the first South Korean to win gold in the -66kg Greco-Roman wrestling after he beat Hungary's Tamas Lorincz at the ExCeL.
The Korean had to work hard to claim gold after he suffered a blow to his right eye during his first fight against Hovhannes Varderesyan.
The problem worsened in each of his next five fights en route to glory, and by the time he had won the final, the eye was completely bruised over.
"I cannot see through one eye. I can't even open it," the 21-year-old said. "I did it in the elimination rounds and I got hit there again and again.
"It just kept swelling bit by bit and it was getting bigger and bigger but I just concentrated on my fights.
"There were no medals for Korea in Beijing so I feel very happy to have won a gold here to revive wrestling in Korea."
Iran moved ahead of Russia in the wrestling medal table by claiming their third gold in as many days after Ghasem Rezaei beat Russia's Rustam Totrov in tonight's heavyweight final.
Iran had not won any golds in the Greco-Roman discipline before London 2012, but now they have three after Rezaei followed up the success of Hamid Soryan and Omid Noroozi in front of a strong Iranian following at the ExCeL.
"To bring smiles to the faces of all the Iranians inside the stadium and back home is the happiest moment of my life," the 26-year-old said.