I just returned from Beijing yesterday and attended all of the taekwondo events including the one where the incident above occurred. I don’t advocate what the Cuban player did nor do I condone his actions, but the center referee was just being a total a$$ by disqualifying him at the end of the 1-min injury timeout. He could have just as easily given him more time or penalized him a .5 point deduction for taking too long. This was the final repechage match to determine the bronze medal winner and the Cuban player was leading on points before the injury.
Taekwondo had a very, very, bad Olympics in Beijing!!! Too many of the winners over the 4-days of competition were decided by poor officiating on part of the center referees (such as the case with Steven Lopez and the Cuban athlete above) and even poorer judging. For whatever reason, the officials running the event took it upon themselves to determine the outcome of the match vs. letting the athletes decide it in the ring. I was happy to see it included as an official Olympic sport in 2000, but have decided (after Beijing) that it either needs to be completely reformed or cut from future Olympic Games.