Lethbridge taekwondo star makes international impact

A Lethbridge taekwondo star is making waves internationally; she was recently the most decorated Canadian athlete to come out of the ITF World Championships in Germany.

Eighteen-year-old Grace Holowiski collected three medals en route to Canada’s 15^th overall finish on the world’s biggest stage, improving on the two-medal performance she had in Ireland in 2017.

“I got a silver medal in Team Specialty Breaking, a bronze medal in Individual Power Breaking and a bronze medal in Team Power Breaking,” Holowiski said.

In those three competitions Holowiski has amassed seven medals, and her coach of nine years says that it isn’t necessarily a surprise.

And the level is about to get a little higher.

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With her most recent birthday, Holowiski moves up into an adult division, where the competition gets even more difficult.

“It will be a new stage,” Merritt said. “We will have to change things a bit, but overall, she’s just been continuously growing as an athlete.

“Going forward, we’re going to be increasing her plyometrics to a new level. This worlds, I saw heights that I haven’t seen any athletes reach before, so it’s a big game change.”

Holowiski is elite in both power breaking and specialty breaking.

“Specialty breaking is kicks high up in the air – like jumping and hitting a board at a certain height,” Holowiski said. “Power breaking is techniques to break lots of boards.

Next up is the Western Championships in Saskatoon, beginning May 17.