American Paige McPherson takes taekwondo bronze medal

LONDON -- Paige McPherson started the long and winding day with a victory over world champion and local favorite Sarah Stevenson of Britain and left ExCeL Centre with a medal.

There was plenty of action and drama in between, but the bottom line was that the first-time Olympian secured a bronze medal, defeating Franka Anic of Slovenia, 8-3, on Friday night in the 67-kilogram division.

McPherson, who is based in Miami, fought back from an early 3-1 deficit in the opening round and led 4-3 after two. She expanded the lead with another quick point to go ahead, 5-3. McPherson put the contest out of reach with a three-point head shot, going up 8-3 in the third.

McPherson came through the repechage round once Turkey’s Nut Tatar made the gold-medal round. She lost to Tatar, 6-1, earlier in the quarterfinals.

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