Skyler Park, the bronze medalist in the women’s 57-kilogram taekwondo category at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is “Korean”.

She was born to a Korean father and Chilean-Italian mother.

She comes from a “martial arts family,” as her grandfather, Park Duk-Hwa, taught aikido to the U.S. military and her father, Park Jae-Hong, owned a taekwondo school.

Park Jae-hong traveled to Paris as a coach after the Tokyo 2020 Games.

World No. 4 Skyler Park had her gold medal dreams dashed when she met Kim Yoo-jin (24th) in the quarterfinals of the tournament at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on Monday (Aug. 8).

She was defeated with a round score of 0-2 (6-7 5-9).

Shortly after her quarterfinal match with Kim, Skyler Park said in the joint press area, “I can only cheer for Korea. I hope Kim Yoo-jin will play well in the next match and I will have a chance to win a bronze medal,” said Park.

She also shared some advice from her father, Coach Park.

“My dad is very proud of me,” said Skyler Park. He told me before the game, ‘Win or lose, we’re a team,'” she said.

Skyler Park never gave up, and she did indeed fulfill her dream of becoming an Olympic medalist.

With Kim making it to the final, he was given the chance to compete again from the loser’s bracket.

In the third place match, Skyler Park defeated Lathesia Aoun (23rd, Lebanon) with a round score of 2-0 (0-0 4-0).

In the event of a tied round, the winner will be determined by the fighter with the most points scored by spinning kicks, the fighter with the most points scored by head, body, fists, and knees to the head, and the fighter with the most effective strikes.

Skyler Park took the first round according to these criteria, and then won the second round to take home the bronze medal.

At the official press conference after the awards ceremony, Skyler Park said, “My father is Korean. He was born in South Korea,” he said, introducing his Korean connection.

“My grandfather immigrated to Canada, and I think my dad was eight years old at the time,” he said, adding that he still has relatives in Korea and has visited the country many times.

“My family has a lot of Korean connections,” laughed Skyler Park, “and I’ve been enjoying Korean culture for a long time. I’ve been practicing taekwondo,” he added. 파워볼게임