The second Spanish karate medal was silver.

24 hours after

Sandra Sánchez's

plethora of gold

, Damián Quintero could not overcome local Ryo Kiyuna in the grand final at the Nippon Budokan.

The judges, who awarded a score of 27.66 to the Spaniard in his final kata (28.72 to that of his rival), led to the Japanese revenge on the tatami.

Even so, karate will remain forever in the history of the Spanish Olympism.

In its fleeting presence at some Games - it was its premiere and it disappears from the program in Paris 2024 - the martial art that was born on Okinawa Island in the 14th century leaves two medals.

In the afternoon session, Quintero opted for the Suparinpei.

Following his ritual, he pressed his feet back against the tatami, "like a bull", and executed it with his usual solvency, "putting his heart" and bordering on technical perfection.

Next, Kiyuna opted for the Ohan Dai, obtaining a very high score (20.02 in the technical part and 8.70 in the physics).

The Buenos Aires-born Malaga, who quit his job as an engineer to pursue his dream, had shown his solvency in the qualifying round.

He passed as the first of the group, very outstanding from the rest, after the first two attempts (27.34 average grade).

Later, in the moment of truth of the third, he chose the Anan Dai -the same as his two rivals, it had to surpass the 26.44 of the American Ariel Torres-, and executed it with his usual plasticity, putting, as he likes to say, "the heart" on the Budokan tatami.

I broke down with joy, in the embrace with the guru

Jesús del Mora

l, after knowing his score (27.28), straight to the final.

"I want the gold, I'm going to fight for it. Not many karateka can say they have a medal, and I already have it," Damien had warned.

World champion in 2014, six times European champion and number one in the ranking, at 37, Damien could not defeat his great rival, the local idol Kiyuna, four-time world champion.

It is the 14th medal of the Spanish delegation in Tokyo 2020.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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