Juan Diego Garcia Lopez

Started: He took up taekwondo at age five, and began competing in Para taekwondo in 2016. (debate.com.mx, 07 May 2020) Reason: He combined taekwondo with other sports, such as basketball, football and swimming, before deciding to focus solely on taekwondo. He was first introduced to the sport by his school teacher Reymundo Calderon. "My teacher owned a taekwondo school and he told my parents about it. I was very hyperactive and I feel that teachers were looking for children with lots of energy. I first did it as a hobby and trained for free, but I later got more interested in competing, first at regional level, then nationally." (debate.com.mx, 07 May 2020) Ambition: To win a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (municipiospuebla.mx, 12 Feb 2024) Milestones: He became the first Para taekwondo athlete representing Mexico to win a medal at the Paralympic Games when he claimed gold in the K44 -75kg event at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 28 Mar 2024) He became the first Para taekwondo athlete representing Mexico to claim gold at the world championships when he won the K44 -75kg event at the 2019 edition of the tournament in Antalya, Turkiye. (SportsDeskOnline, 26 May 2020; gob.mx, 06 Feb 2019) Awards: In 2022 he was named Male Athlete of the Year by the Pan American Taekwondo Union. (gob.mx, 27 Jan 2023; Instagram profile, 13 Nov 2022) In 2021 and 2018 he was presented with the Sinaloa State Sports Award for Para Athlete of the Year. (Gobierno del Estado de Sinaloa Facebook page, 20 Nov 2021; isde.gob.mx, 06 Jan 2020) He received the 2020 National Sports Award in the Para sports category from the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport [CONADE] in Mexico. (gob.mx, 29 Oct 2020) In 2019 he received a Medal of Merit in the sport category from the Congress of the State of Sinaloa in Mexico. (congresosinaloa.gob.mx, 23 Sep 2019) In 2017 he received the Culiacan Municipal Sports Award in Mexico. (noroeste.com.mx, 27 Oct 2017) Additional Info: NON-PARA TAEKWONDO He began non-Para taekwondo at age five but did not take up Para taekwondo until 2016. "At the beginning I competed against non-Para taekwondokas. I wanted to continue in the sport but it was not adapted to my conditions. My coach, Reymundo Calderon, always told me that I had to be patient until a Para taekwondo event, adapted to my circumstances, could be staged. And in 2016 the first national championship was held in order to start a national team. It was then my career really began more seriously. I think competing against non-Para opponents from the beginning helped to give me a strong mind." (informate.com.mx, 23 Nov 2020)