Another Lopez, another Olympic tae kwon do medal

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After suffering his first-ever defeat in three Olympic Games, and first loss in six years, welterweight Steven Lopez today rebounded to win a bronze medal 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.

Sarmiento advanced to the finals, where he finished second. Lopez then entered the repechage (second chance) where he won bronze by defeating Ivory Coast’s Sebastien Konan, 3-0, and Azerbaijan’s Rashad Ahmadov for the bronze medal, 3-2.

With the bronze, the Lopez siblings from Sugar Land, Texas, will leave Beijing Games with three Olympic medals. Diana Lopez captured bronze in the women’s featherweight division and Mark Lopez took silver in the men’s featherweight class.

-- Greg Johnson