Olympian dedicates gold medal to Jesus

Athens, Greece, Aug 29, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Taekwondo champion Moon Dae Sung dedicated his Olympic gold medal to Jesus after knocking out his opponent in the first round.

"I prayed to God before the beginning of the match, and asked for his blessing for me to win," said Moon after taking top spot on the podium. "So this gold medal is dedicated to Jesus Christ."

The Christian Olympian won the men's taekwondo gold medal in the over-80kg weight class with a knockout of local favorite Alexandros Nikolaidis of Greece.

In the first round, Moon, a 1999 world champion, unintentionally kicked Nikolaidis in the head. The Greek athlete fell and lost consciousness for a couple of minutes.

In a show of true sportsmanship and concern, the South Korean champion was by his opponent's side when he regained consciousness. The two athletes embraced and Moon led the silver medallist on a semi-victory lap.

Moon said he told Nikolaidis that "he is a real champion and the people love him. I also told him that the kick I released came out by accident and that he just happened to be there."