andere Teams » LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Swim

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The first time Steven Lopez made the U.S. Olympic taekwondo team, he was just 15 years old. More than two decades later, the Texas-based fighter recently qualified again and will likely be the oldest athlete competing in taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro games.At 37, Lopez is the most acclaimed fighter in the sport and dominated the Korean martial art for more than a decade, winning a record five world championship titles.Lopez won Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2004 and took home a bronze in 2008. But at the London 2012 games, he was knocked out in the first round after breaking a leg shortly before the Olympics.Ahead of Rio, Lopez said his misfortune in London adds a bit of extra motivation.I can accept defeat if the guy is just better than me that day, he told the Associated Press. But to not be able to go out there and perform at my best (in 2012) was something that was very hard for me to stomach and one of the reasons why I went on to try to make the Olympic team in 2016.Still, a lot has changed since Lopez started taekwondo, a martial art characterized by its aerial kicks and spinning techniques. When Lopez began competing, kicks were scored by four corner judges and had to be forceful enough to elicit trembling shock from the opponent.After controversy plagued the Beijing 2008 games, taekwondos ruling body switched to an electronic system where players score when the sensors in their foot protectors strike their opponents body armor with the right amount of impact; head kicks require only that the foot touch the opponents head guard or face to register three or four points.In recent years, many fighters have adapted to the temperamental system by modifying taekwondo kicks to maximize their chances, using unorthodox techniques that are unrecognizable to traditional taekwondo practitioners -- including Lopez.It seems strange that with the rules now, if you land a kick, however it looks, it can score points even though it is not at all taekwondo, Lopez said, adding that he is reluctant to use some of the altered kicks being tried by many other fighters.World Taekwondo Federation president Chungwon Choue said officials are trying to strike a balance between preserving the martial arts origins and the continued evolution of the sport. He noted Lopez would soon become the first athlete to make five straight Olympic appearances and that while most competitors were in their 20s, it would be unwise to discount Lopez.Anything can happen in taekwondo, Choue said.With just weeks to go before Lopez arrives in Rio, he says he is as excited as he was for his very first games.There will be a time that no matter how much I want it, I wont be capable of doing it, Lopez said. So for right now, I am just trying to enjoy every single part of this.---Rachel Cohen in New York contributed to this report. Wholesale Jerseys .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. http://www.wholesalejerseyssundaynfl.com/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Cheap NFL Jerseys . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Swimmings world governing body, FINA, says it has agreed to reduce a doping ban for Russian swimmer Vitalina Simonova from four to two years.Simonova, a former European championship silver medalist, was given the original four-year ban in July after testing positive in 2015 for excessive testosterone.She said this occurred by accident after she took a supplement named Testosterol 250 and claimed she did not know it contained subbstances that would break down into testosterone.ddddddddddddAfter Simonova appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, FINA said it agreed to cut her ban to two years because she could identify the source in contaminated supplements and had promptly admitted the anti-doping rule violation.Her ban now ends June 28, 2017. ' ' '