Santiago Herrera has taken a giant leap toward his goal of competing in the Olympics.
The 16-year-old taekwondo athlete punched his ticket to the World Taekwondo Junior Championships after besting the competition at the nationals in Calgary last month.
“I am aiming for 2020 or 2024,” the Pinetree secondary student said of his Olympic goals. “Right now I am still in junior… Next year I start seniors and that is when I can start collecting points.”
Herrera, a Coquitlam resident, easily worked his way up the competition levels to get to the world championship, which will be held in Burnaby this November.
He quickly defeated his opponents during the provincials last March, winning 12-0 in the first match and 15-1 in the second. Each match consists of two rounds of two minutes and points are kept by an electronic chest protector that counts the number of hits.
Herrera kept up the strong showing at the nationals in Alberta, where he competed in four matches that were three rounds each. He defeated every contestant, scoring 11-6 in the first, 23-9 in the second, 9-4 in the third and 10-6 in the fourth.
While Herrera is happy to have qualified for the world championships, he does admit that it would have been nice if the location was a little more exotic.
Last year, the event was held in Taipei, China, and he had hoped that Germany would win the bid for this year’s competition.
“Whatever,” he said, noting that his family and friends will have an easier time watching him compete. “It is in Burnaby. It will be fine.”
But Herrera, who has been involved in taekwondo since he was eight years old, will still get a chance to take his talents to another country.
He trains with Black Belt World in Maple Ridge, a school that is heading to Korea for training next month. The work he does in Asia, he said, will benefit him as he gears up for the world championships in the fall.
@TriCityNews
