Mark, along with his brother, Steven, and sister, Diana, are attempting to become the first three siblings to make the same U.S. Olympic Team in the same sport since 1904. Steven has already qualified for the 2008 Beijing Games and Diana will be attempting to qualify her weight division in Cali along with Mark in December.

Mark answered the following 10 questions for this month's USA Taekwondo Athlete Profile...

Q1: What is the best present you’ve ever given a family member for a birthday or holiday?

MARK LOPEZ: Well, it was actually given by both my brother Jean and I, and it was given to my father for his birthday. My father loves to watch movies and he deserves the best that we could get him. As a result, we pooled our money together and bought him a brand new Samsung - 72" 1080p DLP HDTV. He is the happiest and proudest man alive with that monster of a television! It was a small token of our appreciation for the great father that he is and all of the sacrifices he has made for the family.


Q2: What’s the best present you’ve ever received for a birthday or holiday?

MARK LOPEZ: For my 21st birthday my brother, Steven, bought me a beautiful black Emporio Armani watch. It was a real one too. Not the ones you can get from China or from a guy with a long trench coat! I’m a fan of nice watches so I was very surprised and extremely happy when I received that gift from him. Its good to have an Olympic Gold Medalist for a brother!


Q3: Last movie that made you cry?

MARK LOPEZ: Live Free or Die Hard. That movie was so action packed that it brought tears to my eyes. It was especially tear jerking when Bruce Willis yelled out the coolest quote that is synonymous with the Die Hard series: ”Yippykya …” Which reminds me, become a Yippy and check out my page at www.yippykya.com/mark/join. Get discovered, sell stuff and make friends! But seriously, I think I cried in The Land Before Time when I was like 7 years old.


Q4: Worst question ever during an interview?

MARK LOPEZ: Last movie that made you cry?


Q5: After a long, hard week of training,what do you do to reward yourself?

MARK LOPEZ: Like my father, I love to watch movies and just relax at home. I take full advantage of the Blockbuster Online account I have by renting new releases and season after season of the most popular television series. My beautiful princess Dagmar and I order takeout from our favorite Chinese restaurant or Hooters or wherever and enjoy the food while having movie/television series marathons. I don’t know what else is more relaxing and rewarding than that. It’s the best!


Q6: With all the attention your family has received from your combined Taekwondo exploits, I bet people have come up with many Lopez Family-related things. What’s the most common and annoying, and most original?

MARK LOPEZ: -The most common is the question: do we fight regularly and if we do, who wins?
-The most annoying is the theory: the success of the Lopez family is solely genetic and has nothing to do with their hard work, their skill or their coach.
-The most original is the phrase that describes us as the 1st Family of Taekwondo. Whoever coined that phrase was pretty original and accurate.


Q7: What sport would you play professionally if given a chance? Would you be any good at it?

MARK LOPEZ: I would have loved to play many other sports professionally. However, if I were given one chance, it would definitely be soccer (credit to Peter Lopez a.k.a. Big Pejus, a.k.a. Sneaky Pete, for really introducing the sport to us). Would I be any good at it?! I would be great, maybe even the greatest! Just as great as I am in taekwondo! I’m already pretty good at it. Imagine if I started training in soccer when I started in taekwondo! If my whole family did soccer instead of taekwondo, we would take USA Soccer to another level just as we have with USA Taekwondo. Hmmm, let me see: I would be Ronaldhino (just a bit prettier though), Jean would be Beckham, Steven would be Pele, and Diana would be Mia Hamm. Lol, pretty funny, right? Us Elite guys take pride in our versatile skills in sports and we always dream: if only we played this or that sport and how rich and famous we would be if we focused only on that sport. We challenge any other taekwondo teams across the country for a game of soccer or basketball. We love competition. Ask the Germans. Elite represent!


Q8: Do you have a pre-competition meal?

MARK LOPEZ: It used to be a sausage McMuffin with a hashbrown and an orange juice for breakfast. That was when I was fighting Jr. Olympics a very long time ago. Now I understand that nutrition is a huge factor in performance and McDonalds, although extremely delicious, is probably something you should not eat before a competition. The night before I fight I like to have Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo. For breakfast, on the day that I fight and almost everyday for that matter, I eat oatmeal and toasted wheat bread/bagel.


Q9: Do you have any pre-competition superstitionsor rituals that you adhere to?

MARK LOPEZ: No, I do not. Although, when I was a little boy, I use to always listen to the song, Mama said Knock You Out by LL Cool J, right before I went out into the ring. My mother liked the underlying message of the song, and so did I. My mother is the sweetest mother there is, but she always told me to knock out my opponents and have no mercy on anyone. She may sound ruthless, but her strong character and philosophy on life is an evident key to our success.


Q10: Favorite area of study in school?

MARK LOPEZ: I loved almost all areas of school besides grammar and literature. I just despised doing mundane research papers and unnecessary monotonous busy work. I especially loved history because there are no better stories than those that have actually happened. I loved math and science as well. Although I am finished with school, graduating with a degree in Finance (Magna Cum Laude by the way), I love to learn and constantly try to keep my mind stimulated with different areas of study. The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, the History Channel, self-help books, and the Internet are the best tools for that. The door is still open to continue my formal education. Maybe I will go to the Harvard School of Business. Who knows? The sky is the limit.