Taekwondo – BURNABY, Canada (Nov. 19, 2016) –  Canadian fans waited until day four to see the first medals for the host nation at the 2016 World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Burnaby. In fact, these are the first medals for Canada at a junior world championship since 2002.

17-year old Skylar Park of Winnipeg won gold in the female -59kg category and fellow Manitoban, 16-year-old Zachary Hiebert, took bronze in the male -73kg category.

“I’m so proud to be able to win gold medal for Canada at home,” said Park. “She was a tough opponent, but I was able to shut her down.”  Park’s medal is the first gold for a female Canadian athlete at the junior worlds.

Wayne Mitchell, president of Taekwondo Canada, is thrilled to have the world championship in Canada. “It’s a very prestigious event. Kudos to the organizing committee for putting on a wonderful event,” he said. He has high hopes for the sport in Canada with the exposure from the five-day event. “It’s a fantastic sport that can be practiced by anybody at any economic level. It’s and extremely fun team and individual sport.”

Other golds on day four were claimed by Korea, the Russian Federation and Turkey.

After 16 of 20 events, Korea leads the medal standings with 13, including 11 gold. Full medal standings here:http://www.worldtaekwondofederation.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Medal-Standings_Taekwondo_C95_7.0.pdf

Full day 4 results here: http://www.worldtaekwondofederation.net/result-for-day-4-wtf-world-taekwondo-junior-championships-burnaby/

The World Taekwondo Junior Championships feature more than 800 athletes from more than 100 countries competing for 80 medals at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby. The five-day event wraps up on Sunday, Nov. 20.