Nia Nicole Abdallah (born January 24, 1984) is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and the first U.S. woman to officially medal in Taekwondo at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. In 2007, Abdallah was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame.

Early life

Abdallah was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and was introduced to Taekwondo by her stepfather when she was nine years old. After graduating from George Washington Carver High School in Houston, she went to live in Colorado Springs. After training at the Olympic Training Center, she went on to compete, first in open class international competition, then on the world and olympic level.

Athletic career

Abdallah represented her country at the 2004 Olympics, where she won the silver medal. This made her the first and youngest American female to win a medal in the olympics in Taekwondo since 1992. The Olympic games was her 3rd World international competition. While trying to earn her spot to compete for her second gold medal in the 2008

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in Beijing, Abdallah found herself at the center of controversy. Diana Lopez was receiving national attention for her hopes of joining her two brothers representing the United States in Taekwondo. After three rounds of the final bout between Abdallah and Lopez, no points had been scored, and the fight went into

sudden death Sudden Death or Sudden death may refer to: Medical * Cardiac arrest, also known as sudden cardiac death, natural death from cardiac causes * Sudden cardiac death of athletes * Sudden infant death syndrome * Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy * ...

overtime where Lopez scored a winning kick. Abdallah's loss was controversial due to

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

judges did not count. Suffering from long term injures, Abdallah decided to try for one last Olympic team at the 2012 Olympic trials. Fighting 7 fights in one day, she earned her spot in the Olympic trials for the 3rd Olympics. She fell short to

Paige McPherson Paige Arielle "McFierce" McPherson (born October 1, 1990, in Abilene, Texas) is an Olympic taekwondo competitor from the United States. Biography Early life and education McPherson grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota. She and four other sibli ...

who went on to win a bronze in London. This marked the end of an Abdallah's athletic career. She then went on to focus on coaching.

Coaching

In the months following her retirement, Abdallah has become the Texas state women's head coach and has started her own competition team named "Team Bacho" in her hometown of Houston. Her goal is to become the United States first female head coach. Abdallah also travels around the country teaching seminars.

Abdallah's competition record

*2010 U.S. Open (welter): bronze *2009 U.S. National Team Member (Welter) *2008 Olympic Trials (Feather): 2nd *2007 World Championships: bronze *2007 National Collegiate Championships (Light): gold *2007 U.S. National Team Member (Light) *2007 U.S. Open (Light): bronze *2006 Dutch Open (Light): silver *2006 Pan Am Championships (light): silver *2006 U.S. National Team Member (Light) *2006 National Collegiate Championships (welter): gold *2005 U.S. Senior Nationals (light): silver *2004 Olympic Games: silverhttp://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/All-Sports/Taekwondo/All-Taekwondo-Events/49---57-kgWomen/ *2003 Pan Am Games: bronze *2003 U.S. Open: gold *2003 U.S. Senior Nationals: silver *2002 U.S. Open: gold *2001 U.S. Open: gold *2001 U.S. Senior Nationals: gold

References

Sources

Nia Abdallah
at USA Taekwondo * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdallah, Nia 1984 births Living people American female taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in taekwondo Sportspeople from Houston Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 2003 Pan American Games World Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 21st-century American sportswomen