By Peter Rutherford

LONDON (Reuters) - Anthony Obame earned Gabon's first Olympic medal on Saturday when he took silver in the taekwondo heavyweight division at the London Games, losing to Italian Carlo Molfetta in the final.

Obame, who snatched a place in the final after a last second win over of three-times world champion Bahri Tanrikulu in the last four, took a 6-1 lead after the first round and led 9-4 in the third before Molfetta powered back to 9-9.

Neither fighter could score a point in sudden death and after the referee consulted the judges' scorecards he signaled the Italian was the victor.

Both fighters sank to their knees in an embrace then raised each other's arms in a show of sportsmanship that had the 6,000 fans in the ExCeL arena roaring.

Mali's Daba Modibo Keita was unable to fight for a bronze due to injury, leaving Robelis Despaigne of Cuba to pick up the medal. China's Liu Xiaobo won the other bronze after beating Turkey's Tanrikulu.

(Editing by Michael Holden)