Taekwondo: Wihongi bows out in second chance bout

ATHENS- Verina Wihongi walked away from her first Olympics with the screams of a packed Greek crowd ringing in her ears as she couldn't take her second chance offered by a local heroine.

Wihongi, a universe away from her job on a Balclutha dairy farm, exited the women's under-67kg taekwondo draw after losing her repechage 1-4 on points to Heidy Juarez of Guatemala.

Both fighters got a second chance after losing their opening bout to Greek favourite and eventual silver medallist Elisavet Mystakidou -- nicknamed the Blonde Storm -- who whipped the crowd approaching 5000 into a frenzy at the Faliro Arena.

Under quirky taekwondo rules, any fighter who loses to an eventual finalist gets a second chance to progress to the bronze medal spot through two repechage bouts.

Wihongi though struggled to score against Juarez, taking a cautious approach which saw her warned for a second time and deducted a valuable point for standing back and not engaging.

There was a bizarre one minute and 10 seconds of eyeballing and dancing on the spot before the pair kicked it off.

Wihongi stayed in it for the first of three two-minute rounds, and trailed 0-2 with one round left, having scored a point from a kick but had it deducted for the earlier offence.

It was all over in a late flurry, with the Guatemalan finishing strongly as a hesitant Wihongi couldn't pull out an effective late attack.

Having been forced to wait nearly a fortnight in the Games village before her competition, Wihongi had to wait much of a day to see if her Games would continue.

But Mystakidou beat Mary Rivero of the Philippines in the semifinal late in the afternoon to offer another chance.

First up, it was an imposing stage for Kaikohe-born Wihongi, 26, to become New Zealand's first official taekwondo representative.

The packed crowd went wild when Mystakidou entered the arena, and a sea of Greek flags drowned out the solitary New Zealand one in a corner.

But with all the hype, foot stomping and chants of "Hellas, Hellas" from the stands, the bout was a non-event early on.

Wihongi's point deduction in the second round put her two points behind with a round left, then the Greek attacked to the roars of the crowd, stringing together four points to Wihongi's one in the final round.

A third degree black belt who took up the sport when she was 11, Wihongi made the Olympic team by winning the Asian Games title in Bangkok in February.

- NZPA