The first day of the Olympic Games in Tokyo became incredibly eventful for the Russian taekwondo player Mikhail Artamonov and was more like riding a roller coaster.

In the morning, he experienced one of the most bitter defeats in life, during the day he languished in anticipation of when his offender would create the main sensation of the competition, and in the evening he achieved the main success in his career and brought the team a second medal.

Artamonov came to Japan as one of the favorites in the weight category up to 58 kg, which is the lightest for men in Olympic taekwondo.

In 2017, he became the silver medalist of the World Championship, losing only in the final to South Korean Kim Tae Hoon.

Since then, the native of St. Petersburg has invariably been among the best fighters in his weight and was selected for the Tokyo Olympics due to his high positions in the world ranking.

As a result of the draw, Artamonov ended up in one half of the tournament grid with the reigning world champion John Chun, also representing South Korea. For the Russian, the minimum task was to meet with him in the semifinals and try to break into a duel for gold, where he would have been opposed by a less dangerous opponent. However, these plans were not destined to come true - Artamonov could not take even one step towards the main rival.

In the 1/8 finals, the Russian taekwondo fighter was opposed by 19-year-old Mohamed Jendoubi from Tunisia. During his short career, he managed to become the best representative of Africa, and has not yet won more significant titles. Artamonov won the first round, but then the rivals seemed to switch places. Dzhendubi began to strike non-stop, and the Russian could not stop it. During the third period, the Tunisian even led with a score of 21: 9, which can only be described as a defeat. Artamonov tried to rectify the situation, but he only had enough time to close the gap to seven points.

Defeat in the very first fight, and even from a very young and not too famous athlete, could only cause disappointment. Artamonov's failure coincided in time with the first losses of Russian judokas and boxers. Formally, the Russian still had a chance to get into the bronze medal tournament. It involves athletes who lost to future finalists. Five years ago, the same Kim Tae Hoon lost at the start of the Olympics, but managed to rehabilitate himself and become a bronze medalist.

Artamonov could only hope that Dzhendubi would not turn away from the victorious path.

There were few chances for this - the main obstacle for the Tunisian was John Chun, who had no problems reaching the semifinals.

But Dzhendubi did not disappoint those who were deprived of their chances for gold.

He defeated the Korean and reached the final, and Artamonov got a chance to return home not empty-handed.

It took more than six hours to wait for the moment when he was invited back to the carpet.

Fortunately, the Russian did not burn out, and he grabbed his opportunity to win bronze with a strong grip.

First of all, the native of St. Petersburg defeated the Ethiopian Solomon Demse.

He struck only two blows to the body, and the Russian answered 11 and finished the fight ahead of schedule with a score of 27: 5.

Now, for the coveted medal, it remained only to defeat the Argentinean Lucas Guzman.

In 2019, Artamonov lost to him at the World Championships in the very first fight, but the South American then did not make it to the final and took third place himself.

The beginning of the re-fight Artamonov failed, unable to respond to one attack and a penalty point.

But in the second round, he scored ten points in a row, having even managed to hit his opponent on the head once.

Guzman did not find the strength to recoup, and admitted defeat.

Artamonov won for Russia the fifth Olympic medal in taekwondo and the second in the men's weight category up to 58 kg.

He admitted that during the day his mood changed and he was able to prepare for a revenge.

“Now emotions have changed. The competition is over, and pretty well. You can already relax and enjoy the moment. At first, I didn't expect to be able to fight for the top three at all, because the Korean athlete was the favorite, but I got my chance. The fight with the Ethiopian was a passing one, it was easy to work with him. Another thing is the Argentine athlete, it was much more difficult with him, despite the fact that I lost to him at the World Championship. It was necessary to get together and take revenge. With the support of coaches, parents, athletes, we managed to do this. I knew that the fight would be intense, no one wants to lose twice a day. We had a collision of charges. With the score 10: 3, I felt that I shouldn't let go, I had to cling to it by all means. Guzman was slowly catching up, but managed to hold out and win bronze, ”Artamonov told Match TV.