Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Steven Lopez.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
Steven López is an American taekwondo competitor, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist and a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and 4th Dan in taekwondo. In 2001, he won the Lightweight Taekwondo World Championship, and in 2003 he won the Welterweight Taekwondo World Championship which he has since won in 2005, 2007 and 2009 making him the first Taekwondo fighter to win 5 World Championships. With 2 Olympic titles, 5 titles in taekwondo world championships and 1 title in taekwondo world cup he is the most titled champion after Hadi Saei who earns 9 world class titles.
People in the U.S. didn't know what taekwondo was. But they saw what the Lopezes were able to do with all the love and support and hard work we put in, and what we accomplished. It makes me feel real lucky to be in a position like that.
As people get older, they get married, have kids. I'm not married. I don't have kids, so I'm able to focus 100 percent on this.
It's torturous what my siblings put me through. I can take any Olympic final, I can fight in a world championship and fall behind and win in sudden death, but when it comes to my siblings, it's out of my control. There's not much I can do.
Winning had become kind of automatic, but I realized in 2008 that at any moment that could be taken away from me.
The statistics show that when you've done something for so long, it'll either be, yeah, you're slowing down, or someone's doing it better. But physically, I feel great. More than that, it's mental and spiritual.