COPENHAGEN, Denmark — American Steven Lopez won the welterweight gold medal in the WTF World Taekwondo Championships on Wednesday to become the first five-time world champion, beating Spain’s Nicolas Garcia Hemme in the final on the judges’ decision.

The 30-year-old Lopez, from Sugar Land, Texas, won his first gold medal in 2001 and has been undefeated at the biennial event ever since, adding titles in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. He also won Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2004.
Tied at the end of regulation, Lopez and Hemme went to an overtime period in which neither fighter was able to score. The decision went to the judges and, based on who was the more aggressive fighter during the overtime period, they awarded the victory to Lopez as the superior fighter.