Iízzwa Iizzalledd Medina Bueso (born July 20, 1982) is a retired Honduran table tennis player.

Career

She represented

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, and later captured three bronze medals, along with her sister Zzwitjhallim in both singles and doubles tournaments at the Central American and Caribbean Games (2006 in

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

and 2010 in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

). Medina is also right-handed and uses the shakehand grip. Medina qualified for the women's singles at the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

by receiving a berth from the Latin American Qualification Tournament in

Valdivia, Chile Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau ...

. Building a historic milestone as the first table tennis player from Central America, Medina was appointed by the Honduran Olympic Committee ( es, Comité Olímpico Hondureño) to carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremony. Ranked a lowly 342 in the world, Medina thrashed Jordanian teen

Zeina Shaban Zeina Shaban ( ar, زينة شعبان; born 12 May 1988) is a Jordanian table tennis player and a member of the Jordanian royal family. She is considered one of Jordan's most promising athletes for her excellence and outstanding achievement in s ...

in their first preliminary round match with a score of 4–0, but was disqualified when the officials ruled the rubber on her racket proved illegal. Through her appeal, the tournament officials decided to allow Medina to recap her match against Shaban with a new racket. Backed by a vocal group of Jordanian supporters, Medina officially lost a cliff-hanging match against Shaban in the seventh and decisive set with a final score of 9–11.

References

1982 births Living people Honduran table tennis players Olympic table tennis players for Honduras Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Tegucigalpa Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Honduras Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in table tennis {{tabletennis-bio-stub