Paris 2024: 'A devastating moment for me' - Lutalo Muhammad recalls Olympic heartbreak at Rio 2016

Lutalo Muhammad reflected on his infamous loss in the taekwondo final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, remembering what he called the "most heartbreaking last seconds in Olympic history." Eight years on from Rio, the 33-year-old sits down to reflect on his silver medal and loss to Cheick Sallah Junior Cisse, and is able to describe the positives and silver linings that emerged from his loss.

'Like quicksand underneath me' - Muhammed on last-second Rio 2016 taekwondo heatbreak

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Lutalo Muhammad reflected on his loss in the taekwondo final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, remembering what he called the "most heartbreaking last seconds in Olympic history."

Eight years on from his silver medal in Rio de Janeiro, a now 33-year-old Muhammad remembered his loss to Ivory Coast’s Cheick Sallah Junior Cisse in the final.

"I was the Olympic champion for what felt like forever, and then all of a sudden I wasn’t," Muhammad said. "And it was difficult. I remember trying to compose myself, trying to deal with what happened.

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"I saw Cisse, my opponent, run into the crowd, waving his flag, and I was in the middle of the ring and I felt like there was quicksand beneath me, sinking in slowly.

"Everything that I worked for in my entire life had gone, just like that in one second. I remember leaving the ring finally, going to the media mix zone, and I was very emotional in my interview. I felt like I let myself down, felt like I let the country down, my parents."

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Muhammad secured a silver for Britain, but had been moments away from taking a gold before Cisse struck the Briton's head with the final kick of the match to take four points, winning 8-6.

"This was my time to win and become Olympic champion," Muhammad added. "I had already got a bronze from London 2012 and all my preparation was perfect. I was world No. 1, I had beaten all the top guys, and I was so confident that I was finally going to accomplish the goal that me and my family had set when I was a seven-year-old boy, and become the Olympic champion.

“It was going so well, I’d won all my preliminary fights. I faced the No. 1 seed in the semi-finals and I dusted him off. I was going into that final ready to rumble. I was fighting someone I knew, I’d fought him before, I’d beaten him before. It couldn't be more set up for me to finally win the Olympics."

Silver medalist Lutalo Muhammad of Great Britain poses on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's Taekwondo at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 3 on August 19, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Image credit: Getty Images

With the bout seconds away from finishing, Muhammad believed himself to be the Olympic champion, only for a kick "out of nowhere" to skim his headguard and relegate him to silver.

He can recall the devastation of that moment. The pain and loss he felt in Rio, the tears he cried.

But eight years was enough time for Muhammad to be able to look back positively as well.

"It really was a hard, devastating moment for me," he said. "But, thankfully, the sun rose the next morning and I can look at it now with a lot more perspective.

"Cisse, from the Ivory Coast who won, that was Africa's first ever gold medal in taekwondo. And for the Ivory Coast, it was their first medal in anything. I watched a video of him arriving back in the Ivory Coast and seeing the entire country blow up. He was a superstar.

"And it made me happy, because I realised that what he had done, for his country and for his continent, where taekwondo is now a massive sport in Africa - I couldn't have done, and that was a silver lining.

"The sport of taekwondo is massive in an entire continent now, and that final inspired millions to start kicking and punching where they normally wouldn't have.

"It was difficult to deal with at the time, but I'm happy for my friend. He did so well. And hey, silver's not so bad after all."

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