Espinosa named as US Para taekwondo head coach

Daniel Espinosa has been appointed as head coach of the USA Para taekwondo team.

The 2016 Pan American champion was retired from competing in September and will become just the second retired athlete to coach a Paralympic taekwondo national team after Spain’s Amado Garagarza.

Daniel Espinosa lost his arm in a train accident in Cuba when he was just two years old.

But since the accident, Espinosa has gained so much more. He started training at just five years old and left Cuba at 22 to become an international athlete in the U.S.

"I have the honour to announce that I am the new head coach of the USA Para Taekwondo team," Espinosa announced shortly before Istanbul 2021.

Espinosa's career highlights span 33 years - a period that saw him collect 27 medals.

The American won three World Para Taekwondo Championships in his playing years, with his first bronze coming in 2014.

He then went on to win silver and another bronze in the K42 -75 kilograms sparring category in 2017 and 2019.

He also won gold at the 2017 U.S. Open.

In 2008, he opened the 1AF Taekwondo Academy in Cooper City with his family to teach others whether they have a disability or not.

Para taekwondo was included on the Paralympic programme for the first time at Tokyo 2020.

Evan Meddell of the United States won bronze at Tokyo 2020, and in the process became the first person to achieve a Paralympic medal in the sport for the US.