USA Olympic Taekwondo Summary

Information taken from http://www.usa-taekwondo.us/


Steven Lopez Rebounds to Win Olympic Bronze Medal
August 22, 2008

After suffering his first-ever defeat in three Olympic Games, and first loss in six years, welterweight Steven Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas) rebounded to win a bronze medal Friday night at the Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium. Italy's Mauro Sarmiento, the eventual silver medalist, defeated Lopez in sudden-death overtime in the quarterfinal round. When Sarmiento advanced to the finals, Lopez was entered into the repechage for one of two bronze medals. Lopez defeated Sebastien Konan from the Ivory Coast, 3-0, and then defeated Azerbaijan's Rashad Ahmadov for the bronze medal, 3-2. Iran's Hadi Saei won the gold medal."I came here expecting to win a gold medal, but I guess it wasn't in the cards today," said Lopez. "I should have been in the finals. It's hard, but I'm happy with the bronze. It's better than nothing. I have two ways to look at it, either succumb to it and think 'I should have been in the finals', but a champion goes out there with dignity and I wanted to prove to myself and others that I am the best."Lopez also said he plans to compete again at the 2012 Olympics."It encourages me to keep going," he said about his future. "I am upset. I love winning, I hate losing. And in no way does this discourage me from wanting to go to the 2012 Olympic Games."The bronze medal gives the Lopez siblings three medals at the Beijing Games. Diana Lopez captured bronze in the women's featherweight division and Mark Lopez was the silver medalist in the men's featherweight class."We are extremely happy with our athletes' performance and effort here in Beijing," said USA Taekwondo CEO David Askinas. "In this most historic Olympics we made history with one family winning three Olympic medals. Steven, Mark and Diana are true champions of the sport. Under difficult circumstances they fought hard and represented our country with honor and dignity. We understand that taekwondo is a difficult sport to officiate. Our federation has issues they need to confront. Nonetheless, my sincere disappointment I feel for our athletes is tempered by the knowledge that they have strived and achieved great things. This, of course, includes our future star Charlotte Craig. She was a great teammate and gave her all, just falling short of the semis by one point. We all expect great things from her in the future."NOTE: The views expressed by the U.S. Olympic Head of Team for Taekwondo, as published in some news articles regarding the Olympic taekwondo competition, do not necessarily reflect the views of USA Taekwondo. USAT continues to work with the World Taekwondo Federation to ensure a level playing field for all athletes.

Mark Lopez Takes Olympic Silver Medal, Diana Lopez Wins Bronze
August 21, 2008

Men's featherweight Mark Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas) took the Olympic silver medal on Thursday at the Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium. Lopez lost the gold medal match to Korea's Son Taejin, 3-2, after Taejin scored the winning point in the final seconds of the third round."Of course I wanted the gold medal," said Mark Lopez. "I came here for the gold medal but I got silver and you've got to be happy with that."Mark's younger sister, Diana Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas), also captured an Olympic medal on Thursday winning the bronze medal in the women's featherweight division. She defeated Italy's Veronica Calabrese in sudden death overtime to claim the medal."I am just so happy, so emotional," Diana Lopez said. "To compete at this level and at this venue is an honor."Eldest brother Jean Lopez, coached both his younger siblings to their podium finishes."This time she really honed in on what I've been saying to her," Jean Lopez said about Diana's bronze medal bout. "I said she didn't have this oppportunity before and it might not be something that she gets the opportunity to do again. I told her that the medal is her hardware. Her kids will brag about this medal and her grandkids will brag about this medal."The fourth member of the Lopez family, men's welterweight Steven Lopez, will try for his third straight Olympic gold medal on Friday. His first match is at 11:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. EDT Thursday). All matches can be seen live at http://www.nbcolympics.com/.
Charlotte Craig Does Not Advance to Olympic Repechage
August 20, 2008

After losing her quarterfinal match of the Olympic Games on Wednesday to Venezuela's Dalia Contreras Rivero, 3-2, flyweight Charlotte Craig (Murietta, Calif.), 17, was forced to play a two-hour waiting game to see if she would qualify for the repechage round and a chance for a bronze medal. But when Contreras Rivero lost on a referee superiority decision in the semifinals to Thailand's Butree Puedpong, after the two fought a scoreless overtime period, Craig was eliminated from the competition."I figured her strategy was to wait for me and my game is to be aggressive," said Craig of her quarterfinal match with Contreras Rivero."My problem was that she got the first point so I had to push it."Craig was obviously disappointed with the day's outcome, saying she was more nervous waiting around for the chance at the repechage than she was competing in the ring, but she carries with her an Olympic Games experience."I'm just happy I got a chance to represent my country," Craig said.Taekwondo competition continues on Thursday with featherweights Diana and Mark Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas) in action for the U.S. Diana's first match is at 10:00 a.m. (Wednesday 10:00 p.m. EDT) against Thailand's Premwaew Chonnapas, while Mark Lopez faces Afghanistan's Nesar Ahmad Behave at 11:30 a.m. (Wednesday 11:30 p.m. EDT) in the first round.All matches can be seen live at www.NBCOlympics.com.

Charlotte Craig Advances to Quarterfinals of Olympic Games
August 20, 2008

Olympic flyweight Charlotte Craig (Murietta, Calif.) started off her Olympic competition with a 4-0 win over Switzerland's Manuela Bezzola at the Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium. Craig built a 3-0 lead in the first round and maintained control throughout the remainder of the contest. "I set it up pretty well, took my time," said Craig of her scoring during the match. "When I saw she was in my distance, I attacked."Craig moves on to the quarterfinals to face Venezuela's Dalia Contreras Rivero who defeated Craig last December in the semifinals of the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier, 5-3. That match will take place at 3:30 p.m. (3:30 a.m. EDT) and can be seen live at www.NBCOlympics.com.
Olympic Taekwondo Competition Kicks Off in BeijingAugust 18, 2008Olympic Taekwondo competition gets underway Wednesday at the Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium with action in the men’s and women’s Olympic flyweight divisions. The Olympic competition consists of a single-elimination tournament with a repechage for the two bronze medals. Read Preview
The draw for the Olympic taekwondo competition has concluded and the brackets for each of the Americans are listed below:Women's 49kgWomen's 57kgMen's 68kgMen's 80kg

TKD Results - Day 1

China, Mexico win gold
By the Associated Press
Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2008 3:36 AM ET

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese world champion Wu Jingyu won Olympic gold in her weight class during the first day of the taekwondo competition on Wednesday, while Afghanistan got its first Olympic medal ever, winning a bronze in the men's under 58-kilogram division.

China's Wu Jingyu celebrates after earning the gold medal in the women's 49kg division.
Mexico's Guillermo Perez won gold in the under 58-kg division in a decision over Dominica's Yulis Gabriel Mercedes. Afghanistan's Rohullah Nikpai won one of the two bronzes awarded in that weight class.
Wu took the lead in the first round of the women's under 49-kg final with a chest kick to Thailand's Buttree Puedpong. She narrowly missed on a high kick to Puedpong's head late in the second round that hit the Thai in the shoulder and sent her to the mat.
Puedpong had a point deducted in the third round, putting her in negative territory, and Wu held on for the win.
Wu also cruised through the preliminaries, beating her first two opponents by 7-point margins. That set up a semifinal between Wu and the other favorite in the division, Taiwan's Yang Shu-chun, the 2007 world bronze medalist.
Wu took the lead with a solid looping head kick and a midsection kick to close the first round. Yang scored in the second round, but Wu matched that early in the third and went on to win 4-1.

Men's 58kg and women's 49kg gallery
As the first day of taekwondo kicks off in Beijing, follow the action live as images flow in from the Games. Follow Charlotte Craig, Wu Jingyu and Athens gold medalist Chu Mu Yen.
Afghanistan wins its first Olympic medal
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Rohullah NIKPAI bio
Guillermo PEREZ bio
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Buttree PUEDPONG bio
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Charlotte Craig bio
Venezuela's Dalia Contreras Rivero and Puedpong went into overtime in the other semifinal. Neither was able to score, and Peudpong was declared the winner by the judges.
Contreras Rivero and Cuba's Daynellis Montejo, who defeated Yang, took bronzes.
Charlotte Craig of the United States lost in the quarterfinal to Rivero.
"This is more of a learning experience," Craig said of her first Olympics. "I was lucky to make it to these Olympic Games - 2012 will be different. Even though I'm 17 years old, I'm still one of the top athletes in the world. I just have to believe in myself."
In the men's under 58-kg final, Perez had to go the distance with Mercedes.
Perez scored early, but Mercedes came back with seconds left to force the match into overtime. Neither could score in the allotted two minutes, and the judges' decision went to Perez.
Defending Athens champion Chu Mu-yen of Taiwan got off to a flying start in the preliminaries, using an airborne back kick and then a downward chopping head kick to easily best Kenya's Dickson Wamwiri, 7-0.
But his momentum ran out in the quarterfinals.
Chu was quickly forced to play catch-up after Mercedes pegged him with a body kick combination. Chu evened it up in the second round at 2-2, but fell behind again as time ran out.
World champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain, who finished fourth in Athens, also struggled in the quarterfinals, going into the third round tied with Marcio Ferreira of Brazil. He scored, then lost a point for a penalty and the match went into overtime. He won with a body kick after 20 seconds.
In the semifinal, Ramos trailed Mercedes at the start of the final round, but Mercedes lost a point on penalties, sending that match into overtime as well. Mercedes scored the winning kick with just six seconds remaining.
Nikpai defeated Ramos in the bronze medal match. The other bronze went to Taiwan's Chu.

By the Associated Press
Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2008 5:29 AM ET

BEIJING (AP) -- Afghanistan won its first Olympic medal on Wednesday, when Rohullah Nikpai defeated world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain to take the bronze medal in the men's under 58-kilogram taekwondo competition.
Nikpai, a flashy kicker who has been practicing the Korean martial art since he was 10, defeated Ramos easily in their bronze medal contest, outscoring the limping Spaniard.
Nikpai placed second in the World Taekwondo Federation's world qualifying event in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam last year.
The win brings him a US$50,000 prize from a mobile phone company in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan will get another chance at a medal in taekwondo. Nesar Ahmad Bahave is competing in a heavier weight class.

TKD Olympic Schedule

Taekwondo Event Schedule-Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

July.27-Aug.19
08:00-22:00
Athletes Training
Capital Institute of Physical Education Training hall B

Aug. 18
09:00-08:00
Technical Officials Training and Practice
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium
09:00-10:00
Head of Team Meeting
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium
10:30-12:00
Drawing of Lots
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium

Aug. 19
09:00-18:00
Technical Officials Training and Practice
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium
16:00-17:00
Weigh-in for athletes in Men’s under 58kg & Women’s under 49kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium

Aug. 20
09:00-21:04
Competition for Men’s under 58kg & Women’s under 49kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium
08:00-22:00
Athletes Training
Capital Institute of Physical Education Training hall B
16:00-17:00
Weigh-in for athletes in Men’s under 68kg & Women’s under 57kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium

Aug. 21
09:00-21:04
Competition for Men’s under 68kg & Women’s under 57kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium
08:00-22:00
Athletes Training
Capital Institute of Physical Education Training hall B
16:00-17:00
Weigh-in for athletes in Men’s under 80kg & Women’s under 67kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium

Aug. 22
09:00-21:04
Competition for Men’s under 80kg & Women’s under 67kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium
08:00-22:00
Athletes Training
Capital Institute of Physical Education Training hall B
16:00-17:00
Weigh-in for athletes in Men’s over 80kg & Women’s over 67kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium

Aug. 23
09:00-21:04
Competition for Men’s over 80kg & Women’s over 67kg
Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium


For more 2008 Taekwondo Olympic info, visit these links:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/taekwondo/index.html
http://www.usa-taekwondo.us/