Taekwondo whirlwind Skylar Park is hitting her peak as Paris Olympics approach By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 2:00 PM CST Friday, Feb. 16, 2024

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This article was published 16/02/2024 (944 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Almost three years ago, Winnipeg’s Skylar Park was a rookie Olympian trying to make sense of the most pressure-packed competition of her life in the middle of a pandemic.

Although a lot has changed since the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo, there are similaries, too.

She remains an intensely driven taekwondo athlete, No. 3-ranked in the world at 57 kilograms, but at 24 she’s older, wiser and better prepared for the final five months leading up to Paris 2024.

Earning a podium finish in Paris — she was eliminated in the Olympic quarter-finals in 2021 — could be a natural outcome of the hottest competitive streak of her career.

In a span of four weeks last fall, Park pulled off a golden trifecta — claiming top spot at the Pan American President’s Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Taiyuan World Taekwondo Grand Prix in China and the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Those stellar performances positioned her as a direct qualifier for Paris, a status earned only by the top five athletes in each weight class.

But her competition schedule remains on the back-burner for now.

“It’s nice because I get a chunk of training which I haven’t had for a long time,” said Skylar earlier this week from Calgary where she was consulting with her integrated support team at the WinSport high-performance centre.

“Typically, when we’re competing back-to-back there’s not a big chunk of time to get a big training block. So I’m really taking the opportunity right now to get that training in. And then my team and I will kind of decide. There’s a bunch of competitions leading up to the Games, so we’ll decide where I kind of want to get back in the ring, just to sharpen up.”

In Calgary, she was to meet with her sport physiologist for cardiovascular and fitness testing, her sports psychologist and nutritionist.

That’s only a taste of how complex the demands on her time have become.

Park signed with an agent in 2020 and her rise to international prominence has resulted in promotional deals with RBC and Adidas, with regular speaking engagements, promotional activities and a polished social media presence.

Earlier this month, she took part in video shoots in Montreal for Team Canada’s campaign for the Paris Olympics before attending NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto.

Skylar regularly speaks to kids, young adults and corporate executives.

“I’ve matured so much since since Tokyo – I feel like that’s been forever ago”–Skylar Park

“Public speaking has been something that I think for a lot of people at first is really scary,” she said. “But I think just like anything, the more you do it, the more practise you have, the more confident you become in it. And I think that goes for anything you do. I think it’s the same as fighting.

“I’ve matured so much since since Tokyo – I feel like that’s been forever ago. And so being able to just share that journey with the community and those around me is exciting. I’m really planning to do more in the community leading up to Paris.”

Skylar’s earnings away from competition will help to defray the high cost of an athetic career. That reality is something her younger brothers Braven, 21, and Tae-Ku, 23, have been getting accustomed to as well. Braven, currently ranked second in his men’s 58-kilogram division, is hoping to qualify for Paris with a top-two finish Pan American Olympic Qualifier, April 9-10. Tae-Ku will be unable to qualify due to an injury.

All three Park siblings are coached by their father, Jae Park, who is keenly aware of the financial pressures associated with high-level competion.

“The whole business aspect of being an athlete, which is the social media presence and sponsors and things like that, obviously, we need more to pay for her,” said Jae Park. “It’s not a cheap sport, either. But the end of the day, it’s something that is part of her as an athlete.

“My wife (Andrea) and I, we stress that to her and the boys all the time. As you get better and as you perform, you’re going to be in the spotlight a little bit more. So the way you present yourself and how you want to present yourself is very, very important. Especially nowadays with social media, which is instant exposure.”

Jae Park, who operates Tae Ryong Park Academy for martial arts, places value on skills not directly associated with his sport.

“For some people it’s very difficult to get them to speak, they’re more introverted perhaps,” said Jae Park. “Skylar was never like that, but at the end of the day, her mom and I, we trained her. We practise speaking, we practise answering and we’re on her all the time. So many young people like to use the word ‘like, like, like, like, like.’

“And so I would call her out on it and for a while every time she used the word ‘like,’ in a non-appropriate manner, as a filler word, I’d make her do a pushup. And sometimes in a conversation she’d be doing 30 or 40 pushups. But that was all part of the process of her developing as a professional athlete.”

The Parks understand taekwondo’s status as a niche sport, but that doesn’t mean Skylar isn’t working to promote it in the public consciousness.

“Taekwondo doesn’t get a lot of spotlight or attention throughout any of the four years leading up to the Olympics and so at a time when it is the Olympics there’s a little bit more spotlight shone on it,” said Skylar. “I have the opportunity to share the sport with others and just showcase it. I like to take advantage of that and I think it’s great for the sport and I love to be able to share it with others…

“As Olympic athletes, we aren’t considered as professional as the hockey players or basketball players but I think the work that we put in is exactly the same. And so it’s fun when we kind of get to do some of those things as well.”

Skylar’s public persona and willingness to help her sport is music to the ears of Taekwondo Canada executive director Dave Harris.

“I think there’s pressure on her for sure, but I think the pressure comes from within,” said Harris. “I think that the family is very focused. I mean, you couldn’t meet a better family and as far as ambassadors for the sport of taekwondo, I couldn’t ask for anybody better.”

“I think that the family is very focused. I mean, you couldn’t meet a better family and as far as ambassadors for the sport of taekwondo, I couldn’t ask for anybody better.”–Dave Harris

Being able to watch Skylar reach the podium in Paris is a dream scenario for Canada, which hasn’t captured an Olympic medal since Karine Sergerie of Sainte-Catherine, Que., won a silver in the 57-kilogram division 2008. Canada’s only other medal came from Landmark’s Dominique Bosshart, who won bronze in the over-57-kilogram in 2000.

“Sports that medal do better (with federal funding) and as far as her medaling that way, it really would put us on the map as a sport,” said Harris, noting that another Canadian Olympic hopeful, Marc-André Bergeron, recently used GoFundMe to raise $15,000 to help fund for his qualifying bid.

“I’m very proud of the way we present ourselves in this country, but obviously a medal does bring you to the forefront.”

If that happens, Skylar Park could concievably become the face of her sport, if she isn’t already.

“She is so well-spoken,” said Harris. “I joke with people sometimes that she’s got a career in television (after she retires). We took her for a media day at CBC (in January of 2023) and she absolutely shone. She was an absolute natural.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca