Judo's Suarez? Absurd Disqualification for Biting

[Anchor]

Yesterday, a bizarre scene unfolded in women's judo that made people doubt their eyes. During the match, a struggling Chinese athlete bit the arm of her Japanese opponent. The bite, delivered right through the judogi, left clear teeth marks, ultimately resulting in an unprecedented disqualification.

Reporter Kim Hyeong-yeol has the story.

[Reporter]

In the quarterfinals of the women's 70kg judo event, Japan's Maeda attempts a hold, while China's Tang Jing struggles to escape.

About 20 seconds later, Maeda breaks the hold and stands up, complaining of pain and showing her arm to the referee. Clear teeth marks are visible near her wrist.

Video review confirms that Tang Jing kept biting Maeda's left arm. Tang Jing, who committed the absurd foul, was immediately disqualified.

The nonsensical biting foul summoned memories of Luis Suarez, the notorious bad boy who bit opponents multiple times during soccer matches, and the internet was flooded with baffled reactions.

Despite having her arm bitten, Maeda exchanged greetings with Tang Jing after the match and went on to claim the gold medal, while Tang Jing left the venue refusing interviews.

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Wearing a headset on her head and motion-tracking sensors on her body, an athlete kicks endlessly into the air.

This is virtual taekwondo, adopted as an official event for the first time in this competition.

Held without distinction of gender or weight class, this event features characters on a large screen fighting like a video game based on the athletes' movements, where winning two rounds first secures victory. However, the flow of the match was frequently interrupted as some athletes expressed frustration over equipment malfunctioning smoothly.

It was also somewhat questionable that the red corner athlete won consecutively in the first seven matches.

South Korean athlete Ahn Hyang-shik, who was assigned to the blue corner, was eliminated in the first round.

(Photo courtesy of Park Hyun-chul | Video by Won Hyung-hee | Graphics by Lee Jun-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.