Winner's medal from the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics awarded to Cuban martial artist Ángel Matos, who placed first in the men's taekwondo (80 kg) competition. Gilt silver, 68 mm, 193 gm, by Wojciech Pietranik and Brian Thompson; manufactured by the Royal Australian Mint. The front depicts a 'Seated Victory' with the Colosseum in the background; the reverse portrays the Olympic rings over the iconic Sydney Opera House, with the Sydney Olympic torch at right, and sport and category engraved in the upper and lower rim, “Taekwondo” and “Men’s Under 80 KG.” Complete with the original blue ribbon embroidered in silver with the legend, "Sydney 2000,” and the original round case with metal base and hinged plastic cover. Medal bears some slight discoloration to the front, and the reverse bears a small area of gilt loss above the engraved sport.
Cuban martial artist Angel Matos holds a lofty, if not controversial, position within the annals of Olympic competition. One of the world’s most talented taekwondo practitioners in the 80 kg weight class, Matos earned a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney with a convincing string of victories, culminating with a 3-1 defeat of Germany's Faissal Ebnoutalib in the championship round.
Although Matos was unable to place at the 2004 Athens Games, he returned to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and fought his way to the bronze medal match. Matos injured his foot during the bout and requested a Kyeshi, a one-minute injury time-out. When Matos didn’t return to the ring center or ask for more time, the Olympic referee ruled that Matos, who was leading the match 3-2, had retired, and that his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov, was the winner. Matos, in a moment of madness, kicked the referee, an action that resulted in his lifetime ban from the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Olympic Committee.
