Skylar Park is one of only two Taekwondo athletes that Canada has sent to Tokyo. But 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 to talk about her odds for gold (respectable) the source of her confidence (she’s been beating up older boys since she was three) and her family’s remarkable footprint in the prairies (their Taekwondo 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.