Rio 2016: Bianca Walkden overcomes semi-final defeat to seal taekwondo bronze

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Bianca Walkden hit back from the disappointment of semi-final defeat to claim a taekwondo bronze medal for Great Britain at the Olympic Park in Rio on Saturday.

The 24-year-old outpointed Wiam Dislam of Morocco 7-1 in their repechage semi-final to become the third member of the British team to win a medal in the taekwondo after Jade Jones and Lutalo Muhammad.

Aiming to emulate her friend and team-mate Jones, who won gold on Thursday, Walkden had made good early progress, beating Serbia's reigning champion Milica Mandic in her second fight.

But in her last four bout she came up short against China's Shuyin Zheng, losing in the golden point round and being forced to settle for a place in the evening repechage.

After having a first round head kick ruled out following a Moroccan appeal, Walkden piled on the pressure in the second to establish a 4-0 lead.

A second three-point kick early in the second effectively sealed a courageous bronze medal for the Liverpool fighter after shrugging off the earlier disappointment of defeat.

PA.