Russia's Vladislav Larin earned gold at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series opener in Rome ©Getty Images

Russia's recently-crowned men's over-80 kilogram world champion Vladislav Larin earned gold at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series opener in Rome. 

He narrowly defeated Kazakhstan's Ruslan Zhaparov 9-7 in the final at Foro Italico Arena, just weeks after taking the world title at Manchester Arena. 

Bronze medals went to Britain's Mahama Cho and Iran's Sajjad Mardani.

Iran's Asian Games champion Mirhashem Hosseini emerged triumphant from a star-studded field in the men's under-68kg.

He beat South Korea's three-times world champion Lee Dae-hoon 13-11 in the final, having eased past current under-63kg world champion Zhao Shuai of China.

Iran's Asian Games champion Mirhashem Hosseini won the men's under-68kg at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix, beating South Korea's three-times world champion Lee Dae-hoon 13-11 in the final ©Getty Images
Iran's Asian Games champion Mirhashem Hosseini won the men's under-68kg at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix, beating South Korea's three-times world champion Lee Dae-hoon 13-11 in the final ©Getty Images

Zhao won the bronze medal alongside under-68kg world champion Bradly Sinden of Britain. 

In the women's under-67kg, Croatia's Matea Jelić won 8-3 against South Korea's Kim Jan-di to take the gold medal. 

Egypt's Hedaya Malak and France's Magda Wiet Henin won the bronze medals. 

The competition is due to continue tomorrow with the women's under-57kg, men's under-58kg and women's over-67kg events.

In total, 255 of the highest-ranked taekwondo athletes from 53 countries are set to compete in four male and four female Olympic weight categories.