Hadi Saei wins Iran's first Olympic gold

Beijing: Iran's Hadi Saei has won Iran's first gold medal in the men's 80kg taekwondo competition at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Iranian bloggers praised Saei for his victory and posted pictures of the athlete in action.

Saei beat Italy's Mauro Sarmiento 6-4 on Friday, adding a second gold to his 68kg title success in the Athens Olympics in 2004.

The Iranian led in the first round, but a head kick from Sarmiento made the score 4-2.

Saei landed a kick in the second round to score a point, and then another to tie the score 4-4.

Saei also scored another point in the third round to take the lead, and added a sixth point to seal the victory.

The bronze medals went to American player Steven Lopez and China's Zhu Guo.