Taekwondo Canada announces squad for continental qualifiers. COC / MICHAEL HALL

Taekwondo Canada has announced the names of the Canadian athletes who will compete at the 2024 Pan American Olympic Qualifiers in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 9-10 April.

Taekwondo Canada has the potential to earn a maximum of two men's and one women's quota berths for the 2024 Olympic Games through this tournament. Josipa Kafadar F-49kg (Burnaby, B.C.), Braven Park M-58kg (Winnipeg, MB) and Marc-André Bergeron M+80kg (Quebec City, QC) will all be competing with the ultimate goal of finishing in the top two in their respective divisions to earn a spot at Paris 2024, alongside Winnipeg's Skylar Park who has already earned a quota spot for Canada through her World Taekwondo Olympic Ranking. 

The athletes earned the opportunity to compete in the qualifiers by winning their divisions at Taekwondo Canada's pre-Qualification Tournament held in November 2023. At the conclusion of the tournament, the High Performance Director reviewed and evaluated all division winners and selected these three athletes as having the greatest potential for Taekwondo Canada to earn additional quota sports for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

Kafadar is the 2017 Junior Pan American champion and 2018 Junior World Taekwondo silver medallist. She recently won the 2023 President's Cup. Braven Park has competed in the last two World Championships, and Bergeron is the most experienced member of the national team, having competed in 6 World Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games.