A taekwondo athlete in red vest smilesCandice Ward/COC
Candice Ward/COC

Braven Park

Biography

  • Competed at the World Taekwondo Championships in 2022 and 2023, first in the non-Olympic -63kg event before dropping down to the -58kg event
  • Earned his first senior international title at the 2022 Dominican Republic Open; also won the 2022 Polish Open and 2023 US Open (all in the -63kg event)
  • Won -63kg bronze at the 2022 Pan American Championships
  • Began competing as a senior internationally in 2019
  • Counts his silver medal at the 2022 Belgian Open as a career highlight because he defeated multiple highly ranked athletes, including a former world number one

A Little More About Braven

Getting into the Sport: Was “pretty much born into the sport” because his family owns a taekwondo academy; started competing at age 3 before taking it more seriously at age 10… Sister Skylar and brother Tae-Ku are also members of the Santiago 2023 team, along with their father and coach, Jae… Outside Interests: Enjoys playing other sports, especially basketball and soccer, as well as video games to relax… Has done some engineering studies at the University of Manitoba… Odds and Ends: Inspired by his grandfather who is the grandmaster at their taekwondo school… Favourite motto: A family that kicks together, sticks together…

Notable International Results

World Taekwondo Championships: 2023 – Round of 16 (-58kg); 2022 – Round of 16 (-63kg) Pan American Championships: 2022 – BRONZE (-63kg); 2017 – BRONZE (-55kg youth)