M. Lopez Settles For Silver
Only an hour after his sister won a bronze medal, Mark Lopez of Sugar Land, Texas, had to settle for silver in the featherweight division of the men's taekwondo competition, losing a tight 3-2 decision to Son Tae-jin of South Korea.
With the match tied 2-2 and time running down in the third and final period, Lopez and Son had an exchange of blows.
"I thought we both made contact," Lopez said. Indeed, Lopez's coach and brother, Jean, leapt to his feet. But in order to score a point in taekwondo, three of four judges around the ring must rule in your favor. They did so for Son, but not for Lopez.
"To beat Korea, you have to go above and beyond," Lopez said. Asked what he meant, he said: "It's their sport. Sometimes they get their way."
Lopez's older brother, Steven, will fight tomorrow in the men's under-80 kilogram division.
"He's our anchor," Mark Lopez said.
By
Barry Svrluga
|
August 21, 2008; 8:38 AM ET
| Category:
Taekwondo
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Posted by: Dontcry | August 21, 2008 10:25 AM
If anything the judges were biased against the Korean, having penalized him a point for "passivity"--the most controversial call of the match in my opinion.
Posted by: Observer | August 21, 2008 2:38 PM
congratulations to the Lopez family but watch out for Reinaldo Sanchez from chicago in 2012
Posted by: joaquin sanchez | August 21, 2008 3:49 PM
And the koreans do get there way most of the times!!!!!
Posted by: joaquin | August 21, 2008 3:50 PM
Uh... sorry Mark, but how do you really think you should get credit for that point at the end, when it was Son's kick put you on your butt?
The kick by Son was clean and showed control which is why it was awarded with the point- if you make contact but immediately fall down, how is that a point?
Posted by: Kevin | August 21, 2008 6:18 PM
i agree with you dontcry. he did sound like a poor looser making that remark. he is not only a sore looser, but a foul player too. during the play, lopez kicked son in the groin area causing son to fall face down on the mat and stay there for awhile. at that point lopez looked at son then turned to his coach, smiled and gave a thumbs up as if he was proud of himself. it not so much what he did to son but how he reacted when son was down that made him a looser in my book.
Posted by: syb | August 21, 2008 6:27 PM
Mark Lopez is a bad sport and not a very good representation of what tkd is all about. As syb mentioned earlier, his reaction to the groin kick was arrogant and childish. I don't doubt he's a talented athlete, but he (as well as the entire Lopez clan) need an attitude adjustment. Lopez also needs to analyze his last kick that he seems to be crying about - it was not clean and the match was already over.
Posted by: Mike | August 23, 2008 12:44 AM
You people bashing the Lopez family make me sick. These kids did their BEST for this country.
Shame on you sore losers with ulterior motives.
You all make me sick.
CONGRATS LOPEZ KIDS! WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE YOU REPRESENT OUR COUNTRY!
Posted by: CHO | August 24, 2008 4:59 AM
The "Lopez Clan" hails from Texas but actually is of Nicaraguan Extraction. They brought three medals to the U.S. and a sense of pride to Nicaragua. While Nicaragua has never medaled at the olympics, several athletes born in Nicaragua have won medals for other countries. Too bad conditions here don't allow them to represent their true homeland.
Posted by: Francisco | August 24, 2008 8:58 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
"To beat Korea, you have to go above and beyond," Lopez said. Asked what he meant, he said: "It's their sport. Sometimes they get their way."
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Not a sign of a graceful loser or sportsmanship. One can also claim, then, that USA teams or athletes have gotten their ways in "their sports", like baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball... the list could go on.