Why the Olympics gives out two taekwondo bronze medals

The 2024 Paris Olympics are in full flow and soon enough, we'll be saying goodbye while looking back at the numerous highlights from this year's sporting festival.

We've had social media feuds involving the greatest gymnast of all time and runners almost coming to blows after shocking on track incidents. To counter the drama, there's Snoop Dogg. And what an Olympics he has had.

The Paris Olympics don't officially end until Sunday (11 August), with hundreds of medals still to be awarded to athletes that come first, second, or third in their respective fields.

But for taekwondo, it's a little different just as we've seen with wrestling, with four medals up for grabs in every weight class.

We're talking one gold, one silver, and two bronze. But why?

Taekwondo at the 2024 Paris Olympics

There are four taekwondo weight classes for both the men and women to fight for medals over in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Starting at 58kg in the mens and 49kg for the women, they go up to 80-plus for the guys and 67-plus for the girls.

A total of 134 athletes from 60 countries are set to battle it out for 32 medals between 7 August and 10 August at the Grand Palais, located between the Champs-Élysées and the River Seine.

So why two bronze medals?

As with judo and wrestling, taekwondo uses a unique system when pitting its athletes against each other.

It's a system that rewards strength in depth, acknowledging that some of the best bouts can be early on in the competition with the loser unlucky to not be victorious.

Dubbed the repechage system, it pits taekwondo practitioners against each other across two sides to the draw. A bit like England in Euro 2024 where we avoided the likes of Germany due to them being on the other side.

Exactly how taekwondo uses the repechage system

There is a round of 16 to kick things off, with four bouts on each side of the draw.

The winners then move on to the next stage until we're left with just one competitor from each side of the draw. And voila, that's the gold medal bout sorted.

The repechage system then comes into play, concerning the losers of the finalists.

Two min-tournaments are created, with the three fighters on each side of the draw that lost to their respective finalist competing against each other for a bronze medal.

The two fighters who lost in the earlier two rounds compete before facing the semi-final loser in a winner takes all competition for a bronze medal.

Olympics 2024 highlights - the biggest moments so far

Anthony Ammirati's penis costs him his medal

The 21-year-old French pole vaulter attempted to clear the 5.70 metres on 3 August when his knee - along with his private parts - got in the way, shattering his Olympic dreams.

Iconic shooter Yusuf Dikec wins silver medal with 'no equipment'

Turkey's Yusuf Dikec took a laid back approach when he was spotted looking incredibly relaxed with one hand in his pocket and without any shooting gear on.

It all paid off though as he took home the silver along with his partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan.

Noah Lyles' 100m victory

Setting a new personal best, Lyles came out on top at the finish line by a margin of just 0.005 seconds, with a final time of 9.784.

The final also marked the fastest race of all time, with all eight athletes crossing the finish line in under 10 seconds.

Snoop Dogg in general

Snoop went viral after he rocked up to the dressage team Grand Prix Special fully kitted out in breeches, a dressage tailcoat and hard hat alongside pal Martha Stewart. Iconic.

Ana Carolina Vieira gets sent home for breaking athletes' village rules with boyfriend

Ana Carolina Vieira was sent home after she and her boyfriend Gabriel Santos - also a swimmer competing in the Olympics - left the village without permission, which is against the Olympic Village rules.

Team GB star becomes first ever Olympian to win medal in both male and female events

Coxswain Henry Fieldman made history when he won bronze at the women's crews event off the back of his bronze win in Tokyo on the men's team.

Fieldman was able to achieve the feat because of a rule change back in 2017 that allows coxes of either gender to steer the eights.

The River Seine drama

While Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk vomited after swimming in the river, Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen admitted she 'felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much'.

It came after health concerns were raised over the pollution levels in the river, with the country splashing out a cool £1.18 billion on cleaning it up in time for the games.

Freddie Crittenden jogs for entire race on purpose

The Team USA star purposely put on a leisurely performance in his first heat of the Men's 110m hurdles and ended up being the last one to make it across the finish line with a time of 18.27 seconds.

The athlete said it was a calculated move to avoid aggravating a sore muscle in his leg and due to the introduction of repechage rounds, he knew that he'd have another chance at glory.

'Slow pool' accusations

The pool at the Paris La Défense Arena is 2.15 metres deep which is short of the minimum of 2.5 metres that World Aquatics recommends for an Olympic competition, prompting backlash from viewers.

As a result of the difference in depth, an issue called 'slow' swimming is created where the water is more volatile when dispersed than in a deeper pool.

Imane Khelif's opponent quits boxing match 46 seconds in

The Algerian boxer faced Italy's Angela Carini in the round of 16 match on 1 August when Carini - who has since apologised - decided to abandon the match after 46 seconds.

Khelif - who was born and raised a girl - was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi amid claims from the International Boxing Association that she was not able to meet their unspecified eligibility criteria.

Khelif has since been at the centre of a gender row, and has urged people to 'refrain from bullying all athletes' amid abuse online.

Luana Alonso 'kicked out' of Olympic Village

The Paraguayan swimmer was said to have been asked to leave the village amid accusations of creating an 'inappropriate environment', according to a statement from her team.

Alonso - who also announced her retirement from the sport - has since denied the claims and urged people to 'stop spreading false information'.

Gold medal winner Thomas Ceccon spotted sleeping in park amid village complaints

The athlete, who won gold in the men's 100m backstroke, was spotted taking a nap outside by Saudi rower Husein Alireza who posted it to his Instagram account, tagging the spot as a location within the official Olympic Village.

Speaking about his accommodation, Ceccon said: "It's hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon. Usually, when I'm at home, I always sleep in the afternoon. Here I really struggle between the heat and the noise."

Steven van de Velde booed while making his Olympic debut

The convicted child rapist was booed as he competed in the preliminary phase of the beach volleyball men’s tournament at the start of the games last month.

In 2016, Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl in August 2014, with many furious that he has been allowed to compete in the Olympics.