Skylar Park of Winnipeg, Manitoba won a bronze medal in the women’s 57 kilogram weight class at the 2018 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester, England on Sunday. It was the second time this season that Park won a medal in a world taekwondo Grand Prix event as she won the bronze medal in Rome this past June.
Park shared a bronze medal with Raheleh Asemani of Belgium. Jade Jones of Great Britain won the gold medal on her home mat and Zhou Lijun of China won silver. It was Jones’s second Grand Prix win in taekwondo this year in the women’s 57 kilogram division, as she previously won in Rome. Irem Yaman of Turkey has the other two victories in the women’s 57 kilogram weight class in Grand Prix events this year as she won in Moscow, Russia and Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei.
There is one more World Taekwondo event this season. That will take place in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates from November 22-November 23.
Park is the only Canadian taekwondo athlete to win a Grand Prix medal this season. Prior to 2018, Canada won two silver medals in Grand Prix events. Maxime Potvin of Quebec City, Quebec won the silver medal in the men’s 68 kilogram division at the 2013 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester and Melissa Pagnotta of Toronto, Ontario won the silver medal in the women’s 67 kilogram division at the 2015 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Moscow. The bronze medals for Park this season in Manchester and Rome will give her confidence as she prepares for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
