The third day of Olympic taekwondo events will witness legendary American player Steven Lopez to make history.
The four-time world champion won two consecutive Olympic golds in the men's 68kg category in Sydney and 80kg class at the Athens Games. He will compete in the 80kg class at the Beijing Olympics on Friday.
His major rival will be another gold medal hopeful Iranian veteran Hadi Saei, Olympic champion in the featherweight category in Athens, however, they won't meet until the final match as they are in different pools.
The Lopez family, with three siblings, Steven, Mark and Diana, coached by their eldest brother Jean, all taking part in taekwondo events at the Beijing Olympics, have already made a history.
China's player Zhu Guo will also compete in this category. Host China got all the four tickets for taekwondo events without any qualification competitions. It's the first time for China to send male taekwondo players to the Olympics and the best chance for them to make breakthrough.
In the women's 67kg category, South Korean Hwang Kyung-seon, bronze medalist in Athens, will seek her first Olympic gold on Friday.
Hwang, 22, is a hot favorite as she has dominated the category recent years by claiming two consecutive world titles.
China's Luo Wei won this category in Athens, but under a rule that each NOC can only enter two men and two women players, China gave up the women's 67kg category, choosing the 49kg class instead, in which Wu Jingyu claimed the title on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)