Steven Lopez, born November 9, 1978, is a 2000 and 2004 Olympic Gold medalist and a 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist in Taekwondo. In 2001, he won the Lightweight Taekwondo World Championship, and in 2003 he won the Welterweight Taekwondo World Championship which he has since won in 2005, 2007 and 2009 making him the first Taekwondo fighter to win 5 World Championships.
Lopez’s parents, born in Nicaragua, moved to New York City in 1972. The family later relocated to Texas. Lopez first learned the sport of Taekwondo in his garage at the age of five from his father and Jean, his older brother and now the coach of the US Olympic Team.
Lopez’s siblings, Mark, Diana and Jean Lopez (coach) are all USA National Team Members in Taekwondo. His younger siblings, Mark and Diana, also represented the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, marking the first time since 1904 that three siblings have been on the same Olympic team. Both Lopez and siblings, Mark (men’s featherweight) and Diana (women’s featherweight), made sports history in April 2005 when they all claimed a world championship title at the same event (2005 World Taekwondo Championships) with their oldest brother, Jean, participating in the feat as their coach.
Family is of the utmost importance to Steven and he credits them for all of his success.
