A Perfect Tort at the Olympics: Cuban Taekwondo Athlete Banned for Life

(I’m No) Angel Matos, Cuba’s leading Taekwondo athelete, handed in a perfect tort performance his week — completing a flawless assault and battery on a referee with difficult aggravated elements. Lawyers gave him a 9.7 — taking away only for the failure to leave the jurisdiction before service of process. As the pictures below show, Matos single handedly introduced a torts competition into the games when he kicked ref Chakir Chelbat in the head for an unpopular call.

Matos was unhappy with a ruling by Chelbat of Sweden in the match, which Matos was winning 3-2. With only 1:02 left in the match with Kazakhstan’s Arman Chilmanov, Matos fell to the mat after a kick waiting for medical attention. Chelbat, however, disqualified him because fighters are only allowed one minute — prompting Matos to confronted the ref and push him. He then delivered a kick to the head, spat on the floor, and stomped out. Chelbat was not seriously injured, though he may require stitches.

Rather than expressing horror, Matos coach Leudis Gonzalez seemed to excuse his conduct, simply noting that the ref “was too strict.” He then charged the match was fixed, accusing the Kazakhs of offering him a bribe.

While both will have a chance to contest, officials announced their intention to ban both Matos and his coach for life in what the WTF called “a strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympics.”

For the pictures, click here.

For the full story, click here and here and here.