*Korea and taekwondo -- a match made in Sydney*
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By Sandy Zinn 
SportsTicker Senior Editor 

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Korea is expected to
dominate the first Olympic taekwondo competition in Sydney,
Australia this month. 

The ancient South Korean martial art -- similar to Japanese
karate and Chinese kung-fu -- switches from a demonstration
sport, 43 years after it was introduced to the rest of the
world. 

Not surprisingly, the Koreans are the best in the world at the
sport, which means "to kick or smash with the foot" (tae), "to
destroy with the fists" (kwon) and "the art or way of" (do). 

There are four weight classes for men's and women's individual
competitions, and South Korea has high hopes for at least three
gold medals, especially after sweeping men's and women's titles
at last year's world championships. 

The sport actually is believed to have originated in North
Korea, a dominant taekwondo nation, which is not sending a team.

The Americans are sending two men -- Steven Lopez and Juan
Moreno -- and two women -- Barbara Kunkel and Kay Poe, the
world's top-ranked flyweight who is part of most heartwarming
story of this year's Games. 

Poe dislocated her left kneecap during the Olympic Trials in
Colorado Springs, Colorado four months ago before she was
scheduled to fight her best friend, Esther Kim, with the winner
earning a spot on the U.S. team. 

However, Kim forfeited the final match so her friend would have
the chance to win gold.  The two grew up together and trained in
Houston. 

At 5-1 and 100 pounds, Poe normally is considerably smaller than
her opponent, but the 18-year-old won the Olympic Test Event,
which gathers many of the world's top athletes, in December. 

Kunkel will compete in the welterweight division -- for those up
to 143 pounds.  Her athletic focus in the early 1990s was
basketball, but knee injuries derailed a junior college career. 

Lopez, a native New Yorker, was the only one of three siblings
to qualify for Sydney at the Olympic Trials in May.  The
21-year-old has been competing in the sport since he was 5. 

Moreno, 29, is one of the most accomplished American taekwondo
athletes, having finished runner-up in the traditional flyweight
division at the 1988 and 1992 demonstration events.  He retired
in 1991 but returned to claim national titles in 1998 and 1999. 

Both the men's and women's competitions will be held from
September 27-30, one day for each of the four weight classes.
They have been reduced from the traditional eight. 

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