Olympic Taekwondo: Caden Cunningham Wins Silver in Men’s +80kg After Losing to Iran’s Arian Salimi

Caden Cunningham narrowly missed out on becoming the first British man to win Olympic gold in taekwondo, having to settle for silver in the +80kg class in Paris.

The 21-year-old, who was competing at the Games for the first time, was defeated 2-1 by Iran’s Arian Salimi in a thrilling match.

The Brit knelt down and sat on the mat as the clock ticked away, before the two raised their hands above their heads and thanked the crowd.

It was an evenly matched fight, with Cunningham winning the first of three rounds, but Salimi dominated the second until securing victory with a crucial headbutt at the end of the third round.

Cunningham’s silver means Britain remains proud of its record of winning an Olympic taekwondo medal at every Games since Athens 2004.

The silver came shortly after Britain’s Rebecca McGowan narrowly lost to Turkey’s Nafia Kus Aydin in the +67kg bronze medal match.