Skylar Park Fights to Taekwondo Bronze at Paris 2024, Josipa Kafadar makes Olympic Games debut, vows to be back
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*Story Supported by Team Canada
The journey to the podium was a long one for Skylar Park on Thursday, but like her path to her second Olympic Games, she had her family with her all the way.
The 25-year-old won Canada’s first Olympic taekwondo medal in 16 years, claiming bronze in the women’s 57kg event.
“It’s an honour,” said Skylar, of winning bronze. “I was just telling my dad and my team, I don’t think it’s fully sunken in yet.”
“But when that final buzzer went off, it was just pure joy and gratitude for what we’ve been through as a team and my family.”
Her family has been through plenty in the sport of taekwondo. There are 16 black belts in her extended family, including her brothers Tae-Ku Park and Braven Park, who competed with Skylar at last year’s Pan American Games where Skylar took to the top step of the podium and Tae-Ku snagged a bronze in the men’s 68kg division.
Tae-Ku had an official support role in Paris as his sister’s training partner. Right alongside her in the Olympic ring was her father Jae Park, who is also her coach.
“As a parent, I’m just so proud of my daughter,” said Jae Park. “As a coach, I’d take a million Skylar Parks. She is so disciplined, so driven and so committed. We have never known anything different than parent-coach. I’m just overwhelmed with emotion right now. It’s been a long year.”
That family legacy, and her own Olympic experience at Tokyo 2020, had Park coming into Paris 2024 with the goal of winning a gold medal. But competing at the Grand Palais on Day 13 was unlike anything she’d been through before.
“First of all, stepping into this arena, it’s beautiful, it’s big and there’s a huge crowd, something that we’re not always super used to in taekwondo,” she said. “So, I think it took my breath away a little bit when I first stepped out there, and I just had to shake off the nerves, but we were able to get through that first match.”
Despite a self-described “rocky start”, Park moved through the Round of 16 with a 2-0 (6-2, 4-3) win over Czechia’s Dominika Hronova. She felt good moving into the quarterfinals against South Korea’s Kim Yujin, with her father telling her before the match: “win as a team, lose as a team”.
That wisdom loomed large as Park would be upset by a score of 2-0 (7-6, 9-5) in the quarter-final, dashing her gold-medal dreams. All was not lost, however; if the Korean athlete won her semifinal match, Park would get a potential shot at bronze through the repechage.
“I reconnected with my family in the stands and then I just kind of sat there, in my mom’s arms the whole time as we watched that semifinal go down,” said Park. “Gratefully, Korea won and so I was able to get back in the repechage.”
Once that was confirmed, Park was “full focus” on earning that bronze medal.
In the repechage, she defeated Hatice Kubra Ilgun of Turkey 2-0 (6-4, 3-2). Then, in the bronze-medal match, Park won 2-0 (0-0, 4-2) over Laeticis Aoun of Lebanon.
“It’s been a long day,” said Park, of the four matches that sent her from shock and awe to doubt to disappointment and back to elation.
And though she finished the day on a wonderful high, she also remembers what her dad told her at the day’s low point, after her unexpected quarter-final loss:
“Just that he was proud of me.”
The triumph was Canada’s third Olympic medal in taekwondo since the sport made its debut at Sydney 2000. At those Games, Dominique Bosshart won bronze in the women’s +67kg event. Eight years later at Beijing 2008, Karine Sergerie took silver in the women’s 67kg event.
On Wednesday, Josipa Kafadar kicked her way into the international taekwondo scene.
Kafadar, of Burnaby, B.C., who qualified to make her Olympic debut when she finished in the top two of the women’s 49kg event at the Pan American Qualification Tournament for Paris 2024, gained valuable experience at the big event.
Kafadar’s journey in Paris came to an end when she dropped a 2-0 decision in the opening round contest against Croatia’s Lena Stojkovic.
“She’s a two-time world champion so I knew it was going to be a hard match, but I also knew I could overcome her,” said Kafadar, who used to train against her opponent. “The decision (opening round) went to the judges. It is what it is. I fought well. I could have done better but that’s how sport goes.”
The 23-year-old vowed she will be back.
“It’s been great. I love being in the Village, the Opening Ceremonies and the excitement of this crowd,” she added. “It is a different kind of energy. Hopefully this will not be my last time at the Olympics Games.”
About Taekwondo Canada:
Taekwondo Canada is the official governing body of Taekwondo in Canada, overseeing the sport in all Provinces and Territories. Taekwondo Canada is recognized by World Taekwondo, the International Olympic Committee, PATU and Sport Canada. Taekwondo Canada will continue to be a leading nation in the sport by providing leadership and opportunities to enable its participants to achieve their goals.
Contact:
Dave Harris
Executive Director
(519) 859-7410
ed@taekwondo-canada.com
