Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
AWWW ON THE MAIL. The mail man delivers, once again!
Sometimes you need to be awkward to beat awkwardness
I'd like to thank ma da (dad)... my mum for doin' aw ma washin'
Naw, it's like ants up there, man. Like ants that sound like lions!
When he was eighteen, my dad went off to college to become an architect.
Say that again, Commonwealth whit? (translation: what?) I'm no used tae hearing that.
Win or lose, I'm going to leave everything on the mat. That's what gold medalists do.
That'd be good. That'd be a right good laugh, man. Ye cannae catch me shuttin' up, man
I couldn't believe, I felt as if, like I said, I was going to drap deed y'knaw't a mean?
Neither one of my parents played sports at a very high level when they grew up in Nicaragua.
My parents sacrificed so much for all of us. It makes me want to give back to them by being the best I can be.
Because of my mom's compassion, direction, and knowledge, she gives me that extra push to be the best person I can be.
Every first Friday, my father would go to confession, and he took very seriously the faith he would someday transmit to us.
I think our legacy will always be there. My brothers and I have carved a path for all taekwondo players, not just in the U.S.
Those who claim absolutism is merely a myth are right that it has been misused simply as a byword for political centralisation.
The angels stand between us and God, but they are translucent, even transparent, and they beckon us to penetrate their luminosity.
Do not sit next to my mother when she is watching one of her children compete because you will have fingernails down your back. She is a nervous wreck.
Before we came along, it would be like, 'Yes, thank God, we have the U.S. as our first fight.' Now it's like, 'Uh-oh, we have a Lopez in our division.'
Of course I want to bring home a gold medal, and that's what I'm planning on doing. For me, that's not pressure. It's a chance to show the world who I am.
I'm not a big drinker. I don't really drink at all. But my dad and his pals will want to have a good swally because their nerves will be in some state, man!
My mother was the oldest of nine children, five boys and four girls, so she had experience sharing responsibility for a large, sometimes loud group of kids.
When I tell people I'm going to the Olympics, they're like: 'What do you do, track and field? Pole vault? Are you a volleyball player?' No one ever guesses tae kwon do.
I need that hug from my mom. She's the Latin mother that hugs you and says all these sweet things to you in Spanish. It's just comforting. She also gives me that strength.
Not only are we like the epitome of the American dream, we've been successful at the sport for so long that we know the Lopez name will always be part of the taekwondo world.
You know, me winning two gold medals, going for a third one, that's nice. But being there with Mark and my sister, and my brother being the coach, it's a dream come true. It's going to be awesome.
It is pretty amazing. My parents, who came from Nicaragua to the U.S. - who would have thought that they would have American kids on the Olympic team? I think that's the epitome of the Olympic dream.
If people look at me and, certainly, my brothers, and they see strength and guts, they'd have to know my parents. If they wanted to know why we're so close as a family, that closeness comes from my mother and father.
It was natural for me to go to local tournaments with my mother and watch my brothers compete and sometimes be left with my mom at home while my dad would take my brothers away to different tournaments and competitions. So I started doing everything they did.
Growing up with three older brothers and being the youngest and the only girl, my mom always made me tough. She's taught me over the years how to be a strong, independent woman, how to carry yourself in a positive way and anything that my brothers can do, I can do.
Most everything I do revolves around tae kwon do. That said, I like to be a typical girl and go shopping. I have three nieces and nephews that I like to hang out with. I'm also finishing my last semester at the University of Houston, where I'm majoring in childhood education.
I am very proud of my mom and consider her the most courageous woman I know. With perseverance, sacrifice and hard work, she raised a family of Olympic athletes and gave us the tools and the spirit to succeed. That is something that my brothers and I will always be thankful for.
I've been training super hard at the Lopez Taekwondo Academy in Houston, which belongs to my brother Jean. For me, I think confidence is the biggest thing; it's all mental. I train with the best of the best, including my brother Steven, a five-time world champion who won Olympic gold medals.