Tae Kwon Do May Steal Some of Beijing Spotlight

Few American sports fans know the names of Mark, Steven, and Diana Lopez, and even fewer know Nisar Ahmad Bahawe or Chen Zhong. But those five athletes, all of whom will compete in tae kwon do in the Summer Olympics, have the chance to do something special in Beijing.

With the Beijing Games just days away, no sport has greater potential for taking an athlete from obscurity to stardom than tae kwon do. From three American siblings competing in the same sport for the first time in more than a century, to an Afghan attempting to win his country's first Olympic medal, to a Chinese woman going for her third straight gold on her home turf, several tae kwon do Olympians figure to be among the best stories of these games.

A centuries-old Korean martial art, tae kwon do only became an Olympic medal sport in 2000. But it has long been practiced all over the world, meaning a wealth of talent is on display at the Olympics. In the sport's two Olympic Games, its 48 medal winners have hailed from 20 countries: Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, America, and Vietnam.

In this year's games, the American Lopez siblings — Mark, Steven, and Diana — are the first trio of siblings to compete for the U.S. in the same Olympics since brothers Edward, Richard and William Tritschler all made the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team in 1904. None of the Tritschlers medaled, but all of the Lopez siblings (who are coached by their oldest brother Jean) have a good chance.

Growing up in Sugar Land, Texas, the Lopez kids got started in tae kwon do at a young age, and their father turned the garage into a makeshift gym. All four of the Lopez children excelled at the sport, but the best of the bunch is 29-year-old Steven, who is preparing for his third Olympics, having won gold in 2000 and 2004. Steven is considered the most likely of the three competing this year to win gold.

At 150 pounds, the 26-year-old Mark is 25 pounds and one weight class lighter than Steven. In 1999, when he was 17, Mark won a bronze medal at the world tae kwon do championships, but he fell short of making the Olympic team in both 2000 and 2004 and had to settle for watching his older brother. The 24-year-old Diana has also fared well in the world championships but fallen short of qualifying for the Olympics; she lost her final qualifying match in the 2004 U.S. trials.

All three Lopez siblings won the world championship in their weight classes in 2005. That was the first time ever that three siblings won world titles in the same sport in the same year, but it didn't get much attention because tae kwon do never gets much attention. But if they were all to win gold in Beijing, the Lopez family would be the toast of the Olympics.

The Lopez siblings are three of more than 600 members of the U.S. Olympic Team. But potentially standing in the way of Mark Lopez winning a gold medal is an athlete who represents one-third of his country's Olympic delegation all by himself.

Afghanistan's Nisar Ahmad Bahawe is one of just three Afghans on this year's Olympic team, and he is already getting attention in this country. National Public Radio profiled him last month, and Sports Illustrated predicted that he'll win bronze in the men's 68kg weight class. (The magazine picks Mark Lopez to win silver and Cuba's Gessler Viera Abreu to win gold). Afghanistan has never won an Olympic medal in any event, so if Bahawe emerged from the war-torn nation to became the first in 2008, it would be the kind of achievement that garners international attention.

Aside from Steven Lopez, the only person to win two Olympic tae kwon do gold medals is a Chinese woman, Chen Zhong, who like Steven Lopez is going for her third straight gold in Beijing. Chen won the heavyweight gold medal in both 2000 and 2004, and she is a heavy favorite to win her third in Beijing.

A little over 6 feet tall, and powerfully built, Chen spent five years of her childhood being taught to play basketball at the Beijing Sports University before she was switched to tae kwon do, where she immediately excelled. She was only 17 when she won her first gold in Sydney, and in her home country she has long been expected to emerge as one of China's 2008 Olympic stars.

In Olympic tae kwon do, competitors wear helmets and their bodies are heavily padded. Scoring rewards landing punches and kicks with precision, rather than with force, and punches to the head are illegal. That means injuries are rare, and athletes can compete in multiple events in a day. In fact, each weight class's Olympic tae kwon do tournament is scheduled to take place during just one day.

With two weight class tournaments a day, the entire Olympic tae kwon do competition will be completed in just four days, during the second week of the Olympics. Tae kwon do won't get the attention of track or gymnastics, but those four days of tae kwon do competition will feature as many great Olympic stories as any sport can offer at the Beijing games.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FanHouse.com.