Player's Own Voice podcast: Skylar Park
Taekwondo fighter likes her odds for the finals
Skylar Park is one of only two Taekwondo athletes that Canada has sent to Tokyo. But tomorrow, she's aiming for the finals in the Olympic 57 kilogram class.
The friendly but lethal young Winnipegger has caught the attention of the martial arts world. With sixteen black belts in Skylar's immediate family, she has been sparring for 20 of her 22 years. That's not a typo. She was two when she got into the Korean martial art.
Just before the high kicks started flying, Park caught up with Anastasia Bucsis, host of Player's Own Voice podcast, to talk about her odds for gold (respectable) the source of her confidence (she's been beating up older boys since she was age three) and her family's remarkable footprint in the prairies (their school is a Winnipeg institution).
The Tokyo Summer games are Skylar Park's first Olympics. She has every intention of returning for Paris 2024, and when those games roll around, there's a solid chance she'll have her two little brothers as teammates.
Player's Own Voice will be working straight through the Tokyo Olympics, dropping episodes every day or two. Intimate conversations with athletes at the pinnacle of their careers.
Like the CBC Sports' Player's Own Voice essay series, POV podcast lets athletes speak to Canadians about issues from a personal perspective. To listen to the entire fourth season, subscribe for free on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Tune In or wherever you do your other podcast listening.