Top-flight taekwondo this weekend in Winnipeg

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This article was published 07/03/2024 (876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of the best taekwondo athletes in the country will meet in Winnipeg for the Taekwondo Canada senior national championships this weekend.

Manitoba will be well-represented by four competitors on Saturday and Sunday.

Renowned siblings Braven and Tae-Ku Park — brothers of Olympian Skylar Park — take aim at their latest national titles while Austin Wiebe and Hannah Driedger continue their rise in the martial art among the 120 athletes gathering at the RBC Convention Centre.

“I think it’s huge,” said Kim BedonaPadua, president of Taekwondo Manitoba. “Braven and Tae-Ku and Skylar, they’ve represented Taekwondo on a world stage for Canada.

“We only get to watch them on the TV so it’ll be a big thing for the local athletes to see these guys live and being able to attend it. It’s a different atmosphere when you’re actually in the venue and you get the crowds cheering, you actually hear the hits, you hear the coaches, you can see what’s going on. It’s really exciting, so hopefully this will get our local kids here motivated to do a little bit more.”

Division winners will qualify for continental and world championship events to be announced later this year. The Park brothers are seeking their third-straight trip to the Taekwondo World Championship.

It’s the first time in 14 years that Winnipeg will host the national championship — an equally big opportunity for the province’s taekwondo community, BedonaPadua said.

“Having it here, in our region, we have 50 volunteers from Taekwondo Manitoba that are coming in to help with the event and they’re all Taekwondo athletes so they’re going to see the next level,” she said. “We only have four (athletes). Hopefully, we can grow our senior division, as well.”

Winnipeg will also host the Taekwondo Canada junior and cadet national championship from July 7-8.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

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