Nathan Torquato out of Paralympics after injury

Young Nathan Torquato injured his knee in the duel against Turkish Mahmut Bozteke and ended up losing 10-6, this Friday (30) in the semi-final of the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Due to the injury, the Brazilian will not have a chance to return to the mat, which will leave him out of the dispute for the bronze medal in the up to 63 kg category, he had been defending the champion title since the Tokyo Olympics (2021) where he won gold in the competition.

About the fight

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_{Nathan Torquato will not represent Brazil in the bronze medal match (reproduction/Getty images embed)}

Nathan was doing very well and had a total advantage in the fight against Bozteke, in which the score was 6 to 2, but he began to feel some pain in his left leg and his performance only got worse as the fight went on. Finally, he saw the result gradually reverse itself and the Turkish fighter tied it with two minutes left in the fight.

In the final stretch, with 36 seconds remaining, the Brazilian took another blow to his vest, which made him fall to the ground and suffered even more damage to his leg. Even with pain, he continued to fight hard, but it was not enough to avoid the comeback and he ended up losing 10 to 6 in the dispute. Nathan left the mat in tears while being carried away by the Brazilian medical team. If he had been able to, he would have faced the Moroccan Ayoub Adouchi this Friday (30) at 3:50 pm (Brasília time) for third place on the podium.

Brazil's performance in taekwondo

Despite Torquato's defeat, Ana Carolina Moura from Minas Gerais won the fight against Frenchwoman Djelika Diallo by 13 to 7 and was awarded the gold medal this Friday (30) in the up to 65 kg category. Another winner was Silvana Fernandes from Paraíba, who won the bronze in the up to 57 kg duel against Kazakhstan's Kamilya Dosmalova by 28 to 3.

Featured photo: Nathan Torquato cries after being defeated in the Paralympic taekwondo semi-final (Reproduction/Silvio Avila/CPB/ Lance!)