Nia Abdallah
| Nia Abdallah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Nia Nicole Abdallah January 24, 1984 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
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| Nationality |
 American
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| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division | Welterweight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Style | 3rd Dan black belt in Taekwondo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Nia Nicole Abdallah (born January 24, 1984 in Houston, Texas) is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and the first U.S. woman to officially medal in Taekwondo at the Olympics. In 2007 Nia received the highest honor in the martial art / Olympic sport of Taekwondo when she was inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame®.
Abdallah was born and raised in Houston,Texas was introduced to Taekwondo by her stepfather when she was nine years old. He and her mother recognized her athleticism even at this young age. After graduating from George Washington Carver High School in Houston, She went to live in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center. After training there, she went on to compete, first in open class international competition, then on the world and olympic level.
Abdallah represented her country winning the silver medal becoming 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, 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 3 rounds of the final bout between, Abdallah and Lopez had no points had been scored, and the fight went into Sudden Death Overtime where Lopez allegedly scored a winning kick. Abdallah's loss was controversial due to points judges did not count.
Suffering from long term injures, Nia Abdallah decided to try for one last Olympic team. Fighting 7 fights in one day, she earned her spot in the Olympic trials for the 3rd Olympics. She fell short to Paige McPherson who went on to win a bronze in London. This marked the end of a Nia's athletic career. She then went on to focus on coaching.
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