Skylar Park, a 25-year-old athlete, won Canada’s first Olympic taekwondo medal in 16 years by claiming bronze in the women’s 57 kg event on Thursday.

Her father, Jae Park, who is also her coach, was right by her side.

Skylar expressed her honor in winning the bronze medal, saying, “I was just telling my dad and my team, I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.

But when that final buzzer went off, it was just pure joy and gratitude for what we’ve been through as a team and my family.

”Skylar’s family has a rich history in the sport of taekwondo, with 16 black belts in her extended family, including her brothers.

Her brother, Tae-Ku, competed with Skylar at last year’s Pan American Games and had an official support role in Paris as his sister’s training partner.

This family legacy, along with her own Olympic experience at Tokyo 2020, had Skylar aiming for a gold medal at Paris 2024.

However, competing at the Grand Palais on Day 13 was unlike anything she had experienced before.

She described the arena as beautiful, big, and filled with a huge crowd, which is not something they are always used to in taekwondo.

She admitted that it took her breath away a little bit when she first stepped out there, and she had to shake off the nerves, but they were able to get through the first match.

Despite a self-described “rocky start,” Skylar moved through the Round of 16 with a 2-0 (6-2, 4-3) win over Czechia’s Dominika Hronova.

She felt good moving into the quarterfinals against South Korea’s Kim Yujin, with her father telling her before the match, “win as a team, lose as a team.

” This wisdom loomed large as Skylar was upset by a score of 2-0 (7-6, 9-5) in the quarterfinal, dashing her gold-medal dreams.

All was not lost, however; if the Korean athlete won her semifinal match, Skylar would get a potential shot at bronze through the repechage.

Skylar reconnected with her family in the stands and sat in her mom’s arms the whole time as they watched the semifinal go down.

Gratefully, Korea won, and Skylar was able to get back in the repechage.

In the repechage, Skylar defeated Hatice Kubra Ilgun of Turkey 2-0 (6-4, 3-2).

Then, in the bronze-medal match, she won 2-0 (0-0, 4-2) over Laeticia Aoun of Lebanon.

Reflecting on the day, Skylar said it had been a long day, with four matches that took her from awe to doubt to disappointment to elation.

Despite finishing the day on a wonderful high, she also remembered what her dad told her at the day’s low point, after her unexpected quarterfinal loss.