Ineabelle Díaz
Personal information
Full nameIneabelle Díaz Santana
NationalityPuerto Rican
Born (1974-01-04) 4 January 1974
Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
SportTaekwondo
Event67 kg
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Puerto Rico
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Winnipeg 67 kg
Central American and Caribbean Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Cartagena +72 kg
Gold medal – first place 2002 El Salvador +72 kg
Silver medal – second place 1998 Maracaibo 67+ kg
Gold medal – first place 1993 Ponce 67+ kg
Gold medal – first place 1990 Mexico City 67+ kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2005 Madrid +72 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1993 New York 60 kg

Ineabelle Díaz Santana (born January 4, 1974, in Río Piedras) is a Puerto Rican taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the women's welterweight category.[1] She picked up a total of ten medals in her career, including two from the World Taekwondo Championships and a bronze from the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Diaz also competed for Puerto Rico in a demonstration event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and later attained a fifth-place finish in the 67-kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics, narrowly missing out the nation's first Olympic medal since 1996.[2]

Diaz made her official debut at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where she trailed behind South Korea's Jeung Eun-ok 1–4 in the 60-kg class during an exhibition taekwondo event.[3] In 1993, she won a bronze medal in the same division at the World Championships in New York City, before suddenly retiring from the sport. Six years later, she came out from an early retirement to pick up another bronze in the 63-kg class at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, but missed her bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, where taekwondo officially became part of the sporting program.[4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Diaz returned from a 12-year absence to compete for her Puerto Rican squad in the women's welterweight class (67 kg). Earlier in the process, she sealed a first-place victory over Guatemala's Heidy Juárez and guaranteed a spot on the Puerto Rico Olympic team at the Pan American Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Querétaro, Mexico.[5][6] She first triumphed by a 4–4 judging decision over Morocco's Mouna Benabderrassoul, before being downed by China's Luo Wei in the semifinals with a score of 3–5.[7] Diaz sought for Puerto Rico's first Olympic medal at these Games, but slipped it away in a 2–5 defeat to Juarez in the repechage rounds, relegating her to fifth.[2][8][9]

Rising from Puerto Rico's top Olympic finish in Athens, Diaz put her retirement plans on hold, as she finished behind South Korea's Shin Kyung-hyeon in the heavyweight division at the 2005 World Taekwondo Championships in Madrid, Spain, and then crushed Mexico's Sulayyil Madrigal to earn her last of four golds at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ineabelle Díaz". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 Paese, Gabrielle (3 September 2004). "Fifth, Sixth And Seventh – Puerto Rico's Best Olympic Finishes". Puerto Rico Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Barcelona 1992: Taekwondo – Women's Lightweight (60kg)" (PDF). Barcelona 1992. LA84 Foundation. pp. 49–50. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Puerto Rico espera más medallas en Panamericanos de Rio" [Puerto Rico expects more medals at the Pan American Games in Rio] (in Spanish). Terra Networks. 9 July 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Athens 2004: Taekwondo – Women's Entry List by NOC" (PDF). Athens 2004. LA84 Foundation. pp. 5–7. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Paese, Gabrielle (6 February 2004). "Diaz 12th athlete from P.R. to qualify for Olympics in individual sports". Puerto Rico Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "American Defeats Iraqi to Advance". New York Times. 29 August 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Taekwondo – Women's Welterweight (67kg/148lbs) Repechage Round 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 12 August 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Pillot Ortiz, Víctor (29 August 2004). "Eliminada la boricua Ineabelle Díaz" [Boricua's Ineabelle Díaz eliminated] (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Paese, Gabrielle (25 April 2005). "Diaz finishes with silver medal at Taekwondo World Championships". Puerto Rico Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Iridia Salazar da oro a México" [Mexico's Iridia Salazar wins gold] (in Spanish). Esmas.com. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
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