Egypt s Hedaya Malak reacts after defeating United States Paige McPherson, to win a bronze medal for the taekwondo women s 67kg match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.
Egyptian Taekwondo fighter Hedaya Malak secured the first medal for her country after beating Paige Mcpherson of USA while competing for a bronze medal on Monday.
Malak, 28, defeated Mcpherson 17-6 in the bronze medal game of the -67kg event.
The 2016 bronze medalist qualified for the game against Mcpherson after smashing Malia Paseka of Tonga 19-0 in the Women’s -67kg repechage earlier on Monday.
However, the Egyptian star lost 12-13 to Lauren Williams of Great Britain in the Women's quarter finals of the -67kg event later that day.
Malak, Egypt's highest profile athlete at the Tokyo games, started her mission in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games early on Monday by beating Magda Wiet-Henin of France 11-10 in the Women’s Round of 16 of the -67kg event.
Malak reached the Olympics in February 2020 after coming on top of a qualification tournament in Rabat, having overcome an ankle injury scare.
She was among Egypt's three medallists in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games alongside weightlifters Sara Ahmed and Mohamed Ihab, both of whom also claimed bronze medals.
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