| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Cuba | ||
| Men’s taekwondo | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Disqualified | 2008 Beijing | 80kg |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | 80kg |
| Pan American Games | ||
| Gold | 2007 Rio de Janeiro | 80kg |
Ángel Valodia Matos Fuentes (born December 24, 1976 in Holguín) is a former Cuban taekwondo athlete. He received a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney,[1] and added another at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The World Taekwondo Federation banned Matos and his coach for life following an incident at the 2008 Summer Olympics where Matos kicked the Swedish referee Chakir Chelbat in the face, after being disqualified in the bronze medal match. The decision was later ratified by the IOC.[2]
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At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Matos was gold medalist in the men's middleweight (80 kg) class.[3] In the first round, he defeated Felipe Soto Alvarez of Chile 9–2. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Victor Manuel Estrada Garibay of Mexico 2–0, besting Swede Roman Livaja in the semifinals, 4–0. In the gold medal match Matos defeated Germany's Faissal Ebnoutalib 3–1.[4]
Matos was the defending Olympic welterweight champion. At the 2003 Pan American Games, Matos was defeated 4–1 by eventual gold medalist Steven López.[5] He was not a medalist at Athens in 2004, being ousted by Mexican Estrada 8–7, in the preliminary round of 16.
In the bronze medal match in the men's 80+ kg class at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Matos was set against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov.[6] After he incurred an injury in the fight (at which point he led the match 3-2), he took a Kyeshi.[6] Under World Taekwondo Federation tournament rules, players sustaining injury are allowed one minute of Kyeshi time, at the end of which the competitor in question must return to the center of the ring to resume the fight or request further time, or else forfeit the match.[7] Swedish referee Chakir Chelbat gave a time warning at 40 seconds, but Kyeshi elapsed without Matos returning to the center.[6] The referee ruled while he was sitting awaiting medical attention that he had taken too long during his time out and subsequently disqualified him.[6] "To me it was obvious he was unable to continue," his opponent Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan said. "His toe on his left foot was broken."[8] After Chilmanov was declared the winner, Matos briefly argued and then kicked Chelbat in the face, pushed a judge, and spat on the floor of the arena before being escorted out by security. Matos and his coach, Leudis Gonzalez, were ejected from the event and banned for life by the World Taekwondo Federation.[9][10][11] Given alleged poor judging during the Olympics, the crowd watching the event chanted "Cuba" and applauded him and his coach.[12]
Matos's coach Leudis González said of the referee's initial decision to end the fight, "He was too strict..." and accused the Kazakhstan team of offering bribes.[9]
A statement released by the World Taekwondo Federation referred to the incident as a "strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympic Games", ordered all reports of his participation in the 2008 Olympics to be struck from the records, and imposed a lifetime ban preventing him and his coach, González, from participation in any future World Taekwondo Federation events.[10][13][14]
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro defended Matos, saying he was rightfully indignant over his disqualification. "I saw when the judges blatantly stole fights from two Cuban boxers in the semifinals", Castro wrote. "Our fighters ... had hopes of winning, despite the judges, but it was useless. They were condemned beforehand."[15]
Great Britain's postal service Royal Mail released a stamp in 2010 commemorating taekwondo's inclusion in the London 2012 Olympic Games. The image on the stamp was created by illustrator James Fryer[16] and it is debated that the illustration may be based on a widely-circulated photo of Matos kicking referee Chelbat at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.[17][18]