Diana Lopez

2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist

Olympic Weight Class: Featherweight
Height/Weight: 5’10”/130 lbs.
Born: January 7, 1984, in Houston, Texas
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
College: Wharton County Jr. College
Major: Elementary Education

Highlights: Played volleyball in high school ... enjoys shopping, playing other sports like volleyball and soccer, and "anything competitive" ... loves hanging out with her teammates and "going out with my only other female companion on my team!" ... her three older brothers have achieved great success in Taekwondo: Jean won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships; Steven is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion; and Mark has won three World Championship medals including a gold in 2005 ... Diana, along with Steven and Mark, became the first three siblings in any sport to win World Championship titles at the same event when they achieved the feat in 2005 at the World Taekwondo Championships in Madrid, Spain (they were coached by oldest brother Jean). Mark and Diana qualified for the 2008 Olympics on April 5, 2008, joining older brothers Steven and Jean. This makred the first time since 1904 that three siblings competed in the same sport at the Olympic Games and the first to ever have four siblings at the same Olympics in the same sport, with Jean as the coach. Diana won a bronze medal, Mark won silver and Steven won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing ... enjoys eating sushi, Thai and Korean food and is willing to try anything once "as long as I don't get food poisoning again!" ... the night before a competition she eats salmon or chicken ... the morning of competition she enjoys croissants and eggs ... during competition she hardly eats anything, just drinks a Slim Fast or eats a tuna packet ... her favorite athlete is brother Steven ... her favorite movies are Closer, The Notebook and Napoleon Dynamite ... enjoys listening to a variety of music, including oldies, alternative, R&B, rap and '80's ... says she'll "listen to anything but country" ... her favorite place she's visited for competition is Garmish, Germany ... Currently pursuing an elementary education degree with the hopes of one day being a kindergarten teacher.

Competition Record:
2008: 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, bronze medal
2008: Qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China
2007: World Taekwondo Championships BRONZE
2006: Sr. National Team Trials (Feather) 1st
2005: USOC Female Athlete of the Month (April)
2005: World Taekwondo Championships GOLD
2005: German Open GOLD
2005: National Team Trials GOLD
2004: Olympic Alternate
2004: Dutch Open GOLD
2004: Senior Nationals BRONZE
2003: National Team Trials GOLD
2002: Pan American Championships GOLD
2002: World Cup BRONZE
2001-1991: Junior Nationals GOLD
2001: National Team Trials GOLD
2000: Junior World Championships GOLD
2000: Olympic Team Trials BRONZE
2000: Korean Open BRONZE
1998: Junior World Championships GOLD