Fun for the entire Lopez family in taekwondo

Steven Lopez was getting shut out by Antony Graf. Diana Lopez was losing in the closing seconds to Nia Abdallah. Mark Lopez was sweating in the stands. Their older brother, Jean Lopez, was screaming from the coaches’ chair.

A family that has dominated the U.S. taekwondo community looked flustered, panicked, out of control for the first time in a long time. Hundreds of people at the Olympic Training Center were on their feet, cheering for the underdogs at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Within a blink of an eye, Steven rallied, Diana prevailed in sudden death, Mark and Jean were breathing easier and order was restored Friday in the Lopez family.

Steven’s win in the men’s lightweight/welterweight division and Diana’s win in women’s bantamweight/featherweight, coupled with Mark’s victory Thursday in men’s bantam/feather, put the Lopez siblings in position to make the 2008 Beijing Games.

They’ll join women’s finweight/flyweight winner Charlotte Craig next month at the world Olympic qualifier in Manchester, England, where a top-three finish is enough to advance to Beijing.

The only set of three American siblings to make the same Summer Games in the same sport are brothers Edward, Richard and William Tritschler, who competed in gymnastics at the 1904 Olympics.

Diana escaped with a 2-1 win over Abdallah, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, in the finals of the winners’ bracket, then beat her in a second nail-bitter.

In their first fight, Lopez scored the deciding point against Abdallah with 25 seconds left. Abdallah kicked Lopez to the ground three times in the third round but wasn’t awarded any points, inciting boos from the crowd.

Lopez trailed 5-3 with nine seconds left in the second match when Abdallah was docked a point for retreating out of bounds. A powerful kick in the corner enabled Lopez to tie the score with three seconds remaining, and she won 47 seconds into sudden death.

“I’ve been waiting for this rematch for three years,” said Lopez, who lost to Abdallah at the 2004 Olympic trials. “Nia is a tough fighter. She adjusted, and I adjusted to what she was doing.”

Steven Lopez, a two-time gold medalist and four-time world champion, faced a battle after beating Graf 4-2 in the winners’ bracket finals.

In the rematch, Graf led 3-0 in the first round. Lopez tied the score four seconds into the third round and went on to win 5-3, seizing momentum from Graf’s one-point penalty for holding with 53 seconds left.

“He came out strong,” Lopez said. “I came out a little lackadaisical, and he woke me up. I need a little bit of excitement, I guess.”

Graf criticized the officiating, saying Steven Lopez receives special treatment. In taekwondo, three of four referees must click a handheld buzzer within a second of a kick or a punch for a competitor to score.

“You have to beat Steven Lopez, the name,” Graf said. “In (the referees’) heads, they’re looking to him first because he’s the golden boy.”

Asked whether she received fair fights against Diana Lopez, Abdallah said, “There’s probably some politics going on. Referees are human.”

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