Skylar Park

Skylar M.-Y. Park (born 6 June 1999) is a Canadian taekwondo athlete.[1][2] She is the reigning Pan American Games champion after she won gold in Santiago at the 2023 Pan American Games and won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships. Park also won the gold medal at the 2018 Pan American Taekwondo Championships on the women's 57 kg weight category.[3] She represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's 57 kg weight category.[4][5][6]

Skylar Park
Park in 2021 at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1999-06-06) 6 June 1999
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Home townWinnipeg, Manitoba
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
RelativesTae-Ku Park
Sport
CountryCanada
SportTaekwondo
Event(s) –57 kg
ClubTRP Academy
TeamCAN
Coached byJae Park
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2019 Manchester57 kg
Grand Prix
Gold medal – first place2023 Taiyuan57 kg
Silver medal – second place2022 Paris57 kg
Bronze medal – third place2018 Rome57 kg
Bronze medal – third place2018 Manchester57 kg
Bronze medal – third place2019 Rome 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place2022 Rome 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place2022 Riyadh (F) 57 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2023 Santiago57 kg
Silver medal – second place2019 Lima57 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place2018 Spokane57 kg
Gold medal – first place2021 Cancun57 kg
Gold medal – first place2022 Punta Cana57 kg
Bronze medal – third place2016 Queretaro57 kg
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 Burnaby59 kg
Updated on 12 December 2022.

Career

Park started practicing taekwondo as a toddler and had earned her black belt at her parents' taekwondo school in Winnipeg by the age of seven.[7]

She broke through in the taekwondo world when she won the gold medal on home soil at the 2016 World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Burnaby, Canada, where World Taekwondo released an article about her, after her performance naming her a "Star of Tomorrow".[8] She would later say of her win the competition that " "I don't think I really realized before how big of a moment it would be if I won. "They named me 'the next new face of taekwondo.'"[9] Following this, Park won her first major medal at the 2019 World Championships, taking a bronze after losing to Jade Jones in the semi-finals.[10] Park was favoured to win a medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics though she suffered a loss in the quarterfinals, ending the medal hope.[11]

She competed in the women's featherweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico, losing in the round of 16. She also competed in the women's featherweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan, where she lost again the round of 16 to Maria Clara Pachecho of Brazil. Park won her first Grand Prix title when she defeated world champion Nahid Kiani at the 2023 World Grand Prix event in Taiyuan, China.[12] She began a winning streak when she won the Pan American President's Cup in September in preparation for the 2023 Pan American Games.[11]

At the 2023 Pan Am Games, Park won her third event in a row, winning the gold by defeating Maria Clara Pachecho of Brazil who had defeated her that year at the world championships.[11] After the win she said spoke of her earlier losses and rediscovered success saying that "after Tokyo, a lot of it for me was mental. Dealing with that pressure and expectations, having that belief [to succeed]. It's come together, and the confidence and belief is there now. A big thing is enjoying myself in the ring. When there's pressure, expectations and noise outside of what you're doing, it can, at times, become not fun. But the reason I was successful from a young age and why I love the sport is because I love to do it."[11]

Personal life

Her father is Korean and her mother was born in Chile and is of Italian heritage.[7][13] Park's family has 16 black belts in taekwondo and the sport was practiced by her grandparents, her father, aunts, cousins, and brothers.[7] She herself started practicing taekwondo at the age of 2.[9] Her brother Tae-Ku Park won bronze at the same 2023 Pan American Games where she won her gold medal, becoming the first siblings at the sport to medal at the same Pan American Games.[7]

References
  1. "TaekwondoData". TaekwondoData. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  2. "Taekwondo Canada | Athletes | Skylar Park". taekwondo-canada.com. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  3. "Campeonato Panamericano de Taekwondo (G4) y Open 2018 (G1)". mastkd.com. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  4. Palmer, Dan (4 January 2020). "Taekwondo Canada President congratulates Park on Olympic qualification". Insidethegames.biz. Dunsar Media. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. Gibson, Shane (14 January 2020). "Winnipeg taekwondo champ Skylar Park is heading to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics". Global News. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. Berkeley, Geoff (3 July 2021). "Canada sending two taekwondo players to Tokyo 2020 Olympics as Yong receives reallocated place". Inside the Games. Dunsar Media. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. Evelyn Watta (21 October 2023). "Taekwondo is a family affair for Canada's Skylar Park: "Everyone's a black belt"". Olympics.
  8. Dept, WT Communications (2016-11-21). "Stars of Tomorrow: Canada's Skylar Park - World Taekwondo". World Taekwondo. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  9. Marcus Rebelo (August 22, 2023). "Winnipeg's Skylar Park working towards Olympic return alongside taekwondo family". CBC Sports.
  10. "Skylar Park - from junior world champion to serious contender". Inside the Games. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  11. "Toronto's Fay De Fazio Ebert, 13, wins skateboarding gold at Pan Am Games". CBC Sports. 22 October 2023.
  12. "Skylar Park wins women's taekwondo gold for Canada". CBC Sports. 13 October 2023.
  13. Gheciu, Alex (2021-06-23). "Meet Skylar Park, Canada's Badass Olympic Taekwondo Star". World Taekwondo. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
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