Hawaii’s Lee The world is a calendar to Dae Sung Lee.
excited to be
Olympic coach
The 10-time national champion
will lead the U.S. squad
into the Athens GamesBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comApril? It means the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
August? There's the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.
If it's September, it must be Germany for the World Championships. In December, it will be Paris for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
But it's August 2004 that has Lee the most excited. That is when the tae kwon do master will coach the U.S. team in the Olympic Games in Athens.
"It's too exciting," said Lee, a graduate of Moanalua High School and the University of Hawaii. "I am very honored. There are a lot of great coaches in the United States, but our union thought I could do the best job. I have never been a world champion, but I am fortunate to have the gift to coach."
It is a very logical step for the 44-year-old Lee, who has been with the U.S. national team in some capacity since the late 1970s, either as a player or staff member. Lee was the team trainer at the 1988 Olympics when taekwondo debuted as a demonstration sport in his native Korea, and an assistant coach at the 1992 Barcelona Games when taekwondo was again a demonstration sport.
Taekwondo was not part of the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, but did become a medal sport four years later in Sydney. Lee was part of the U.S. staff that saw featherweight Steven Lopez become the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in taekwondo.
"I was very happy when it became an Olympic sport," said Lee. "Korea has dominated the sport, but now it has begun to spread out. There are several qualifying tournaments before we can go to Greece, but if we can qualify, I think we'll do very good at the Olympics."
Lee began practicing taekwondo in 1968 at age 10. He continued the sport after his parents immigrated to Hawaii in 1971, joined the U.S. national team, and became a 10-time national champion.
"I love the sport," said Lee, who was told of his appointment while at the OTC last week. "The philosophy is all about beauty and the values of life."
Lee is the sabumnim (master teacher) at the U.S. Taekwondo Center in Aina Haina. He founded the dojang (school) in 1993 and currently has over 300 students.
Among the more than 200 players who have reached black-belt status are Dae Sung and Heon Mi Lee's two children: Nikita, 9, and Daven, 8.
Lee will return to the OTC for the U.S. team trials in June. He'll coach the Americans in both the Pan American Games and World Championships later this year.
The Olympics in Greece will be special for Lee, in his head coaching debut. But he is also looking forward to 2008 when the Games are in Beijing.
Lee introduced the sport in China in 1989 and travels to Beijing twice a year to help train the Chinese national team.
The Olympic Games