Lopez family is looking for golden finish

Bronze medalist Diana Lopez consoled her brother Mark after he took a silver. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

BEIJING - Diana Lopez was the first one on the taekwondo mat last night, and she was fighting for a bronze medal. She won, and exulted. Mark Lopez came next, and in a flurry with time running down, he thought he had exchanged equal blows with his Korean opponent. The judges thought differently, and he left with silver. This morning, the oldest and most accomplished sibling, Steven Lopez, will try to make sure the family wins one gold at the Beijing Olympics.

"To be here with my family," Mark Lopez said, "that's the most important thing."

There is no American family that has focused more on, or won more in, the martial art of taekwondo than the Lopezes of Sugar Land, Texas. Yesterday, the day before two-time gold medalist Steven took to the mat, they had a day filled with hope, disappointment, second chances, and even a little bit of controversy.

Mark Lopez, 26, had won all three of his matches leading up to the gold medal bout with South Korea's Son Tae-jin in the featherweight division. "I came here for gold," Mark Lopez said.

Lopez fell behind Son, 2-0, early, but as the third and final period wore down, they were tied at 2. Then came the key exchange.

"He threw a kick," Mark Lopez said, "and I threw a kick."

In Lopez's mind, both should have been awarded a point, because both blows landed. Oldest brother Jean, coach of his three siblings, agreed. But in taekwondo, at least three of the four judges must register the point for it to count. At least that many recorded Son's kick. Not enough recognized Lopez's. In an instant, Son had a 3-2 lead, and before the match could start again, time expired.

Diana's obstacle came much earlier in the day. Competing in the under-57 kilogram division, she lost her second match to Azize Tanrikulu of Turkey. But she got to fight Italy's Veronica Calabrese for bronze.

She fell behind, 2-1, after the second of three periods, but tied it and forced a sudden-death session, where she was able to secure the win and the bronze medal.