PARIS (Reuters) - Italy's taekwondo champion Vito Dell Aquila bowed to Azerbaijan's first-time Olympian Gashim Magomedov in the semi-finals of the men's flyweight in Paris on Wednesday, as he said an injury sapped his performance.
Lesser-known Magomedov, who ranked fifth in flyweight in the world championships of 2022 and 2019, easily beat Olympic gold medallist Dell Aquila 9-4 11-1, capping the second round with a string of kicks to the body.
Magomedov is the only athlete representing his country in taekwondo at the 2024 Olympics.
"I want to say alhamdulillah (praise to god), dreams come true," Magomedov told Reuters after the match.
"I'm in (the) finals," added Russia-born Magomedov, 24, speaking in English. "Many years I think about this, but I don't know. I'm speechless, brother. I'm speechless. I can't understand, brother. I go in final. Subhanallah (glory to Allah)"
Dell Aquila, who won gold in Tokyo, was one of Italy's best hopes for a medal in taekwondo in Paris. He told reporters after the match that he suffered from an injury of the left adductor that prevented him to chase a fast-moving Magomedov.
Dell Aquila had, however, managed to beat athletes from Kazakhstan and Hungary in his two previous bouts.
"I was very prepared, I was in top physical shape, because I was training a lot... but I fought like a broken man," Dell Aquila told reporters after the match.
"I got by in the first two matches, because I hadn't hurt myself too much," he said. "But he (Magomedov) was tough because... you had to chase him with your leg and I can't do that at the moment."
Magomedov is set to fight South Korea's Park Taejoon in the final later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
