Yet one more nation breaks into the all time medal count today – yes one more national hero is minted:  Ahmad Abughaush of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Abughaush won the gold, too!  World Champ!

And pursuant to the Sanders Olympic Policy, Jordan and Abughaush get a tout, the victory lap with the flag of the nation and a playing of the national anthem here at home.

The Jordanian athlete (and now national sensation) won in taekwondo at the 67 kilogram (147.4 lb) weight (Hey I weigh more than that?  Should I try out for taekwondo?  After watching a few seconds of the bout, maybe I better stick to fencing…) and he did it the hard way.  According to this report, Abughaush:

• In his first Games
• The youngest competitor in his weight class
• He was 25th in the world
• In the quarterfinals, he faced the second ranked athlete
• In the semis, the defending Olympic champion AND
• In the final bout the Jordanian beat the number one ranked athlete (from Russia) to win gold!

So when obstacles come – think about that impressive record – and go out there and get ’em!  Thankfully taekwondo is not like men’s basketball, where sports imperialism has zapped the competition out of the whole thing.

And he already is a national star:  Most of the Jordanian royal family stayed up and watched the final bout and when the result was certain, the king’s brother called Abughaush:

Abughaush’s success was closely watched back home – much of Jordan’s royal family stayed up to watch his historic run at the Olympics. Soon after he received his medal, he got a telephone call from the King’s brother, Prince Feisel al Hussein, president of the country’s Olympic Committee.

***

“He told me that the people of Jordan are very happy and crying tears of joy for me,” he said. Abughaush said he was very happy to be able to win Jordan’s first Olympic medal. He acknowledged his rather unorthodox style, saying that while he and his coach had plotted out how to fight certain opponents, certain moments on the mat were “improvised.”

He said he would celebrate his gold medal by going out with other Jordanians in Rio and by singing with them.

Sometimes the guy or gal with a different vision can win it all.  Congratulations to Ahmad Abughaush and Jordan the nation for winning that first medal.  UPDATE:  Here is that national anthem!

About Elwood Sanders

Elwood "Sandy" Sanders is a Hanover attorney who is an Appellate Procedure Consultant for Lantagne Legal Printing and has written ten scholarly legal articles. Sandy was also Virginia's first Appellate Defender and also helped bring curling in VA! (None of these titles imply any endorsement of Sanders’ views)

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