Hoboken's Own Olympian

Kevin Padilla is not one to brag. At his Adams Street taekwondo school, he guesses that most of the members have no idea he has a personal connection to the Olympic Games. Although he said he'd like to keep it that way, the secret's out. Padilla qualified for the 1988 Games and helped coach America's taekwondo team in 2008.

In 1988 taekwondo—a Korean marial art—was purely a demonstration sport and was not made official until the 2000 Games in Sydney. His division, featherweight, was not invited to compete in 1988 Seoul Olympics, so he had to put his dreams on hold.

Twenty years later, those dreams became reality.

He was part of "the best coaching staff in the history of the sport at the Olympics," said Padilla, who did not want to include his age. The staff included fellow Hoboken native Herb Perez, a gold medalist during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Perez and Padilla were training partners growing up.

"I didn't tell anyone until two weeks before I left [for Beijing]," Padilla said. Once the secret was out, it spread through Hoboken like wildfire.

"It really grounded me how quickly it spread. Members of the community were in tears," said Padilla. "Knowing someone who will have such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity brings fire to people, it makes them happy."

During the Vancouver Winter Olympics, which started on Feb. 12, Padilla said he will be cheering on America, no matter what sport. 

His own favorite Olympic memories include meeting swimmers Michael Phelps and Dara Torres, as well as visiting the Great Wall of China. In seeing his Olympic dreams become a reality, Padilla said "there is some healing. Just being there, training there, it was the Olympic experience."

The best part, though, is that everyone is part of the same team.  "You are an ambassador for the United States," he said, "When you win a sport, everyone says: 'The USA won.' They don't say 'USA Taekwondo won.' It's a beautiful thing."

While competing, Padilla was a four-time U.S. National Team Member, a World Cup medalist and U.S. Taekwondo Union Athlete of the Year.

Off the mat, he volunteers with numerous charities in the tri-state area. He has been a member of the national team coaching staff since 2006. In 2009, he was elected Chair of the USA Taekwondo Board of Directors.

Getting Padilla to discuss these accomplishments is no easy feat. He prefers to talk about his students, the mentors who propelled him to the world stage and the parents who provided a strong, supportive upbringing.

As with any elite athlete, there have been sacrifices along the way.

"You give up the normal lifestyle," he said. But he's not complaining. "I feel very fulfilled because I am around so many beautiful people, so many role models," he said. "This isn't about me, it's about the Olympic movement."

Padilla has advanced the movement on both the local and world scales. The Padilla Taekwondo School opened in 1987. It had moved several times before landing in its current home, on Adams Street.

With the studio, Padilla continues a tradition of taekwondo excellence in Hoboken. He once trained under 1976 National Champion Anthony Alvarez, at the Tracey Everitt School of Dance and Karate, formerly located in the building where Qdoba now stands.

Jen Giattino's three sons take classes with Padilla. "The kids have so much respect for [Padilla]," she says, "they really want to make him proud."

As for the fact that their coach also coached Team USA, Giattino said her boys think it's "so cool," and ask people: "Did you know Mr. Padilla coached for the Beijing Olympics?"

During the Games, she helped her sons find video clips of the USA Taekwando team in action on YouTube, because it was not always broadcast in the U.S.

Spending time with Padilla, it is easy to see why his is so respected, and loved, in town. He is not worried about pushing his students onto the world stage. For him, he said, "It's all about building better human beings, developing theirs souls, their consciousness."

As for his own Olympic involvement, Padilla said it's a way of helping people and helping the movement of Olympic sport.

"I'm helping the community and the nation build something that will live forever," Padilla said. 

Download the movie