Long Island Student Wins Team USA Spot For Taekwondo

NEW YORK — Preston Park, an eighth grader in the South Huntington School District, was selected to Team USA for the 2023 Pan-American Taekwondo Championships for a second straight year, according to a news release.

Park won the 2023 USOC/USA Taekwondo Team USA National Team Trials in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Feb. 10 to 12 and then won the 2023 Pan American Series I (G1), in San Jose, Costa Rica, from Feb. 22 to 26, said his father, Jay Park.

Jay shared a message to Preston with Patch.

"What an honor it is to be your parents," he wrote. "We love you so much for everything that you’ve become over the years. We are incredibly proud of all your accomplishments. Don’t ever stop doing what you do best. We know that no one is perfect, but we are still impressed by how well you’ve done in life. Keep up the excellent work and keep working hard. We wish you the very best of luck in your future endeavors."

Preston Park is set to compete in both Olympic Sparring and the Male Recognized Poomsae division in the continental championships at the 2023 Pan-American Taekwondo Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in April.

He also won the Team USA National Team spot for the -56kg lightweight category to represent the country at the Sarajevo 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships in Bosnia-Herzegovina in August.

On March 3, Park captured the bronze medal in Male Recognized Poomsae at the 2023 U.S. Open International Taekwondo Championships (G2) in Las Vegas. During the last three weeks, he brought home three gold medals and two bronze medals from three major championships and is looking forward to participating in domestic competitions from now on, Jay Park said.

In 2022, Preston Park won the silver medal from the 2022 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Goyang, South Korea.