RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Kim So-hui of South Korea and China's Zhao Shuai took the honours on the opening day of the Olympic taekwondo competition on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Kim So-hui, a double world champion, narrowly beat European champion Tijana Bogdanovic of Serbia 7-6 to win the women's under-49kg gold medal.
Zhao's men's under-58kg final was almost as close before he edged Thailand's Tawin Hanprab 6-4 to secure the title.
Patimat Abakarova of Azerbaijan earned a rare women's medal for her country by taking bronze after beating Yasmina Aziez of France 7-2.
Thailand finished the day with two medals as Panipak Wongpattanakit, a former world champion, outclassed Itzel Manjarrez of Mexico 15-3 to win inside the distance for the other bronze.
Korea, normally the dominant force in taekwondo, also ended the day with two medals after two-time world champion Kim Tae-hun denied Mexico a bronze, beating Carlos Navarro 7-5 in the men's under-58kg division.
Luisito Pie of the Dominican Republic needed an extra period of sudden death to edge out Jesus Tortosa of Spain 6-5.