Canada
WT
Canada is one of the most unique nations in world Taekwondo: it was the country that hosted the ITF headquarters from 1972, while at the same time building a solid Olympic WT tradition that has yielded three Olympic medals — the first at the sport's very debut in Sydney 2000. Its identity is forged in diversity: Korean masters who emigrated to Manitoba in the 1970s, athletes of Korean heritage like Skylar Park, and a federation, Taekwondo Canada, that today ranks 11th among the 215 national associations that are members of World Taekwondo.
Origins
The first masters and the Canadian paradox
Headquarters of the ITF and cradle of Olympic WT at the same time
Taekwondo arrived in Canada in the 1960s through Korean diaspora masters. Master Choi Chang-keun moved to Vancouver in 1970. At the same time, in 1972, General Choi Hong Hi established the ITF headquarters in Toronto, making Canada the world epicentre of ITF Taekwondo. In parallel, in 1977, Grand Master Jae Park's family emigrated from Daegu to Winnipeg, Manitoba — representative of hundreds of Korean-Canadian families that would carry the sport into the prairies.
This dual presence — ITF with Choi, WT with Kukkiwon masters — defines the Canadian paradox: simultaneously the historical home of the ITF and a benchmark of Olympic WT Taekwondo.
“Toronto was home to the ITF while the Korean communities in Manitoba built Olympic TKD.”
Consolidation
Taekwondo Canada and WT consolidation
From the Winnipeg dojang to the first international results
Taekwondo Canada is the national organisation recognised by World Taekwondo (WT), Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It is headquartered in Ottawa (2451 Riverside Dr.) under the executive direction of Dave Harris. In 1993, Grand Master Jae Park founded the Tae Ryong Park Academy in Winnipeg, which would become one of the most important clubs in the country and the home where champions of the next generation would train.
In the late 1990s, Dominique Bosshart won seven consecutive national titles (1993–2000) and Canada hosted the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, where the continent's best athletes competed.
“Winnipeg 1999 — Canada as host of continental TKD, with Bosshart as the local benchmark.”
Olympic Debut
The Olympic debut and the Bosshart–Sergerie era
Three Olympic medallists in twelve years
Taekwondo made its official Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, and Canada wasted no time stepping onto the podium. Dominique Bosshart — born in Morges, Switzerland, raised in Winnipeg, trained from age 15 under master Joo Kang — won bronze in +67 kg at that historic debut, becoming Canada's first Olympic medallist in the sport.
Karine Sergerie of Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, then took up the mantle as reigning world champion. Sergerie won gold at the 2007 WT World Championship in Beijing (-63 kg), the first Canadian to capture that title. At Beijing 2008 she reached the Olympic final and took silver in -67 kg, losing 2-1 to South Korea's Kyung-seon Hwang. She retired in May 2014 due to chronic injuries.
“Karine Sergerie — first Canadian world champion (2007) and Olympic medallist in Beijing 2008.”
Park Generation
The Park Generation and the resurgence
Skylar Park — Olympic bronze Paris 2024
After Sergerie's retirement, the next chapter came from Winnipeg with the Park family. Skylar Mi-Young Zanetel Park, born on 6 June 1999, grew up in her father Jae Park's Tae Ryong Park Academy and earned her black belt at age seven. In 2016 she won gold at the WT Junior World Championships in Burnaby, British Columbia — on Canadian soil. She would go on to become a fourteen-time national champion.
Her senior career includes: bronze at the 2019 WT World Championship, silver at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games (-57 kg), gold at Santiago 2023 (-57 kg) — where her brother Tae-Ku Park took bronze, making them the first siblings to win medals at the same Pan American Games. At Paris 2024 she captured bronze in -57 kg, Canada's first Olympic TKD medal in 16 years.
“Skylar Park, Paris 2024 — Olympic bronze, a living symbol of the Korean heritage in Canadian sport.”
Taekwondo in Canada
- ›🥉 Bronce Olímpico Sídney 2000 — +67 kg (debut histórico TKD)
- ›Primera medallista olímpica canadiense en Taekwondo
- ›🥇 Oro Juegos Panamericanos 2000
- ›7 títulos nacionales consecutivos (1993–2000)
- ›🥇 Campeona Mundial WT 2007 — Pekín, -63 kg (primera canadiense)
- ›🥈 Plata Olímpica Pekín 2008 — -67 kg
- ›🥈 Plata Mundial WT 2003
- ›🥉 Bronces Mundiales WT 2005 y 2011
- ›🥉 Bronce Olímpico París 2024 — -57 kg
- ›🥇 Oro Panamericano Santiago 2023 — -57 kg
- ›🥈 Plata Panamericano Lima 2019
- ›🥇 Oro Mundial Junior WT 2016 — Burnaby, Canadá
- ›14 veces campeona nacional canadiense
Keep exploring
The history of Taekwondo continues in every dojang, every class, every student.