U.S. Olympic Taekwondo Team A Family Affair

It’s rare that siblings are all good at the same thing – usually one shines where another doesn’t and vice versa. But not in the Lopez family – three of them are on the U.S. Taekwondo Olympic team and their fourth brother is the coach.

The Lopezes – Diana, Mark, Steven, and Jean (the coach) are set to compete in Beijing and hope to bring home three gold medals in their respective categories. Diana and Mark will compete in women’s and men’s featherweight, while Steven will compete in men’s welterweight. Jean, eldest sibling and coach of the team, retired from competition in 1998, but holds many medals and was named U.S. Taekwondo Male Athlete of the Year in 1994.

This is the first time they’re all competing together in the Olympics.

In the article on MSNBC…

“I always told stories to Mark and Diana, how it is, how awesome the energy feels once you walk into that stadium,” Steven said. “And this time, we get to create our own memories and create new experiences with each other.”

“Selfishly speaking, I wish I could still be competing and making the Olympic team,” Jean admitted. “But the satisfaction that I get, to be able to touch their lives and reach their potential — I get that satisfaction three times over.”

In fact, there’s only one non-Lopez on the U.S. Taekwondo team – Charlotte Craig. But the siblings say she’s like their little sister. Looks like Beijing will be, at least as far as the U.S. Taekwondo team is conerned, quite the family affair.