Mendez gave himself a chance for an Olympic bronze medal through the repechage, but crashed out immediately in another ippon defeat to Great Britain's Nigel Donohue with only 20 seconds remaining.

[4][5] At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Mendez suffered a one-arm shoulder throw (ippon seoi nage) defeat at the hands of Italy's Girolamo Giovinazzo in the men's 66-kg opening match.

[6] In the repechage, Mendez redeemed for his another chance in the Olympic podium, but failed to edge past the first playoff of the draft with a 1–0 deficit on yuko score against Brazil's Henrique Guimarães.

Earlier in the process, he finished third and received a berth on the Puerto Rican Olympic team from the Pan American Championships in Margarita Island, Venezuela.

[8][9] Unlike his two previous Olympic stints, Mendez got off to a difficult start with an unprecedented deadlock and a golden score in his opening match against Spain's Óscar Peñas, forcing them to fight in the second round.