“Jean Lopez and Juan Moreno are two of the pre-eminent Taekwondo coaches in the world,” said USAT CEO David Askinas. “Not only are they great Taekwondo coaches, they are also great role models for the athletes and coaches in our sport. With the completion of these two contracts, USAT has accomplished its goal of providing continuity and stability to all of our National Team programs over the next four years.”

In their roles, Lopez and Moreno provide coaching, planning and technical content for USAT national teams and athlete and coach development programs.

“I am honored to lead the National Team as the head coach into Beijing and beyond,” said Lopez. “I would like to thank USAT, our members and our CEO, Dave Askinas, for having the vision of professionalizing our sport in order to compete with the leading countries. Coach Moreno and I have huge challenges ahead of us but we have one focus and that is for USA Taekwondo to win, and we know what it takes to win. All we need is for everyone to get behind our athletes and continue to believe in our coaching staff and together we will be able to move mountains.

“This job calls for a lot of time away from our families so I would like to thank my wife, Tabetha, my children, Alyxandra and Diego, and my parents for being completely supportive.”

Lopez and Moreno were initially named to the National Team positions in February of 2006.

“The USA Team has an amazing history of success,” added Moreno. “I was able to be a small part of that as an athlete, and now to be able to lead as a National Team coach is a dream come true.

“The USA is the best country in the world and I am proud to be one of its leaders for the future our great sport. Having worked for the USAT as a coach for the past few years has been very rewarding and now knowing that I can help the athletes and the organization climb to the forefront of sport Taekwondo is both a challenge and an honor.”

Lopez and Moreno will look to continue the success of the USA Taekwondo National Team program on the international scene. The U.S. has medaled at each of the last two Olympic Games (two gold, one silver), and claimed four medals at the last world championships (three gold, one bronze). 2007 will be an extremely busy year for the coaches with the world championships in May, followed by the first stage of Olympic Trials in August and the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in September.

“Our goals at USA Taekwondo are not only to produce Olympic and World Championship medal winners in the next few years but also to impart high level coaching education throughout our organization,” added Askinas. “Coaches Moreno and Lopez are committed to sharing their methods, techniques and expertise to all USAT coaches so that we can continue to raise the level of athlete instruction all over the United States. We have the joint mission of growing the pipeline of high level athletes and thereby guaranteeing a steady stream of world class athletes contending for National Team places on a yearly basis. Our long-term vision is that we will have a number of Olympic-caliber athletes in every men’s and women’s weight class. We believe that coaches Lopez and Moreno give us an excellent chance of reaching that goal. I personally look forward to the continuation of the strong relationships that I have formed over the last year with both coaches and great success for USAT athletes over the next four years.”