Ángel Matos

Ángel Valodia Matos Fuentes ( born December 24, 1976 in Holguín ) is a retired Cuban Taekwondo fighter. He was Olympic champion in 2000 and in 2008 was life-long disabled.

Already at the first Olympic taekwondo competitions in 2000 launched Matos and became the first fighter in his class up to 80 kg gold medal after he had told the Germans Faissal Ebnoutalib defeated in the final. In 2004 we launched Angel Matos again in the class below 80 kg, but could there not place on the eleventh place out. Then Matos won at the Pan American Games in 2007.

Also at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing Matos won his first eighth and quarter finals in the class from 80 kg. In the semifinals against Arman Chilmanov from Kazakhstan, he was already with a 3-2 lead, then was disqualified, however, after he had undergone a treatment break. Then he stepped into the face of the Swedish referee Chakir Chelbat with his foot. Matos and his coach Leudis González, who had interfered in the tumult, were then living long blocked by the World Taekwondo Federation, the strong offense saw in this behavior in the spirit of Taekwondo and the Olympic Games. Even far -won results were Matos deleted at the Olympic Games in 2008. In addition, he was part of the Cuban sports leadership forever barred from active competition, which meant the end of his career as a Taekwondo fighter. However, Cuba's former head of state Fidel Castro defended the outburst Matos ' and spoke of a " mafia" had been deprived Cuba of its athletes medals.