Cha Dong-min

Cha Dong- min (Korean 차동민; born August 24, 1986 in Seoul) is a South Korean Taekwondo. It was 2008 Olympic champion in the heavyweight division.

His first international title fights denied Cha at the Junior Asia Cup in 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, where he won the title in 78 kg class. In 2007, he sat down surprisingly against national competition by and qualified in the heavyweight over 80 kg in Manchester for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the Olympic tournament, he sat down by after a opening victory in the quarterfinals against Akmal Ergashev and beat in the semifinals Ángel Matos. In the final against Alexandros Nikolaidis it was undecided until shortly before the end of the fight, but Cha put another body blow and won the gold medal. This also won in the third edition a South Korean athlete Olympic gold in the heavyweight division. In addition, Cha secured his victory the historical success of the South Korean Taekwondo, all four starters were able to win their tournament and earn gold. The success was overshadowed only by the scandal in the previously transmitted fight for bronze, where the Cubans Matos disqualification attacked the referee.

In his first World Championship 2011 in Gyeongju Cha won silver to 87 kilograms of class, he only lost in the final Youssef Karami. At the International Olympic qualifying competition in 2011 in Baku, he secured the participation in his second Olympic Games 2012 in London.