DENVER — USA Taekwondo filed a protest today with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking changes in the sport's judging protocols in the wake of American Steven Lopez's disputed quarterfinal loss in the Beijing Olympics.

The federation's CEO, David Askinas, said the appeal was not designed to overturn results but to shine a light on "the internal problems in our sport."

"We hope to work together with the WTF to fix these problems," Askinas said from Colorado Springs, where the federation is based.

Lopez was the two-time defending Olympic champion heading into Beijing and a favorite to win a third. He wound up with a bronze.

His loss to Italy's Mario Sarmiento came after he had a point deducted because of a series of penalties. Lopez protested the decision after the bout but the protest was turned down. In the case faxed to CAS on Friday, the federation says judges failed to follow the sport's rules by refusing to watch video of the match after the result was protested.

"They didn't bother examining the evidence, and that's wrong," Lopez told the Houston Chronicle earlier this week, before the appeal was filed. "They could have looked and said, `We don't agree with you and that we stand by the judges after reviewing the tapes,' but they didn't even do that."

Steven, his brother, Mark, and their sister, Diana, became the first trio from the same family to represent the United States at the Olympics since 1904.

Mark Lopez ended up with a silver and Diana and Steven each won bronze as the Lopezes became the first U.S. siblings to win medals at an Olympic Games.