Rio 2016

Rio 2016 venue: Carioca Arena 3 – Olympic Park (Barra Zone)
Competition dates: Aug. 17-20
Medal events: 8 (4 weight classes each for men and women)
Olympic introduction: 2000 (Sydney, Australia)

Preview
The U.S. taekwondo team will look to continue its string of successful Olympic Games in Rio with a healthy mix of veteran athletes and new blood. American athletes have medaled at every Olympic Games since taekwondo became an official sport at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. Heading into the Rio 2016 Games, the U.S. is tied for second in the all-time Olympic medal count for taekwondo, having collected eight medals since the sport debuted.

Accounting for three of the eight U.S. medals is five-time world champion Steven Lopez, who has qualified for his fifth U.S. Olympic Team in 2016. Lopez won gold in 2000 and 2004, and earned bronze in 2008. After failing to medal in London in 2012, he continued to train and compete with the goal of a Rio medal in mind. However, the new Olympic qualifying procedures put forth by the World Taekwondo Federation, which require athletes to earn world ranking points at numerous high-level international competitions, have taken a toll on the 37-year-old body of Lopez. He underwent shoulder surgery in late 2015 but was completely healed for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Taekwondo in early 2016. Lopez was ranked No. 10 in the world in the -80 kg. class at the end of 2015.

Also returning to the Olympic stage will be 2012 bronze medalist Paige McPherson in the women’s -67 kg. division. McPherson captured a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships, and gold medals at both the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Korea Open. She was ranked No. 9 in the WTF Olympic rankings at the end of the year.

The new blood infused into the list of 2016 U.S. Olympic Team members comes from a pair of heavyweights -- 20-year-old Jackie Galloway and 28-year-old Stephen Lambdin. Galloway became the first U.S. qualifier for Rio in December by virtue of her placement in the World Taekwondo Federation’s Olympic Rankings. In doing so, she became the first heavyweight (+67 kg.), male or female, to earn a spot on a U.S. Olympic Team since taekwondo became an official sport in 2000.

Lambdin, the third Texas native on the team along with Lopez and Galloway, defeated 2008 Olympic silver medalist Mark Lopez in the heavyweight division at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials to advance to the Pan American Qualification Tournament. There he defeated Canada’s Marc Andre Bergeron in the semifinals to ensure his place in the top two and a trip to Rio.

Athletes To Watch
Jackie Galloway 
Twenty-year-old Jackie Galloway became the first U.S. qualifier for Rio in December by virtue of her placement in the World Taekwondo Federation’s Olympic Rankings. In doing so, she became the first heavyweight (+67 kg.), male or female, to earn a spot on a U.S. Olympic Team since taekwondo became an official sport in 2000. Four years ago, at age 16, Galloway was an Olympic alternate for Mexico’s taekwondo team. Her bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships was one of two by U.S. athletes that ended a six-year medal drought for Team USA. In July 2015, she defeated two-time Olympic medalist Maria Espinoza of Mexico to win gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto.

Stephen Lambdin
Lambdin, 28, was the 2004 junior world championships bronze medalist and 2010 USA Taekwondo Male Athlete of the Year. In 2015, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the world championships and took second at the Pan Am Games Team Trials. Part of Lambdin’s mental training for Rio included traveling to Poland in early December for “Iceman” Wim Hof’s training camp in which participants learned breathing and other techniques in the extreme cold. Previous top performances for Lambdin include a bronze medal at the 2011 Pan Am Games and bronze at the 2012 U.S. Open.

Steven Lopez 
The five-time world champion made his fifth U.S. Olympic Team in 2016. Lopez won gold in 2000 and 2004, and earned bronze in 2008. After failing to medal at the London Games in 2012, he has continued to train and compete with a chance at redemption in Rio. At the end of 2015, the 37-year-old ranked No. 10 in the world at -80 kg.

Paige McPherson
McPherson, 25, qualified for her second straight U.S. Olympic Team after winning a bronze medal at the London Games in 2012. In the past year she has won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships and gold medals at both the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Korea Open. She was ranked No. 9 in the WTF Olympic rankings at the end of 2015. 

Storylines

• Heading into the Rio 2016 Games, the U.S. is tied for second in the all-time Olympic medal count for taekwondo, having collected eight medals since the sport debuted in 2000. Accountable for nearly half of these medals is three-time Olympic medalist and five-time world champion Steven Lopez.

• The Lopez family made history in 2008 when Steven, Diana and Mark Lopez became the first sibling trio to medal at the same Games, and the first to qualify for a U.S. Olympic Team in more than 100 years. In 2012, the siblings were split up after the youngest brother, Mark, came up short at trials.

• Twenty-year-old Jackie Galloway became the first U.S. qualifier for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in December by virtue of her placement in the World Taekwondo Federation’s Olympic Rankings. In doing so, she became the first heavyweight (+67 kg.), male or female, to earn a spot on a U.S. Olympic Team since taekwondo became an official sport in 2000. She first began practicing taekwondo at age 7 at a dojo run by her parents in Garland, Texas. When she defeated the Mexican world champion at a 2010 event, the dual-citizen ended up making that country’s national team. At age 14, she was the youngest athlete in Mexico national team history. However, after two years of living and training in Mexico City, Galloway returned to Texas and joined Team USA after the London 2012 Games. She also juggles a full-time academic load as a sophomore mechanical engineering major at Southern Methodist University, where she has also competed on the school’s rowing team. She is coached by her father, Gary Galloway.

• London Olympian Paige McPherson brought home a bronze medal from the 2012 Games and remains a strong contender in Rio. A welterweight (-67kg.), McPherson won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships and gold medals at both the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Korea Open.

• Taekwondo made its debut as an official medal sport at the Olympic Games in 2000 and the World Taekwondo Federation has since guided many innovations, helping it reach nearly 70 million practitioners worldwide. The sport is constantly evolving with the introduction of new equipment, including the sophisticated Protector and Scoring System and Instant Video Replay, making for a more impartial adjudication process. In 2015, the WTF introduced several measures to help raise excitement levels. Octagonal mats, three-points for a spinning kick to the body, and sensors within the headgear were all implemented for the first time at the 2015 World Championships.