Finnley Harrison didn’t just win gold at the recent Saskatchewan Provincial Taekwondo Championship – she kicked her way through the bracket with such flair, by the final round it was clear the only thing faster than her strikes was her rise to the top. Harrison, 14, captured provincial gold in the cadet girls category Oct. 25 in Moose Jaw. It was also her third big win in a little more than a week, as, on Nov. 15, she also won the gold medal in poomsae cadet girls at the Calgary Open Taekwondo Championship along with gold in cadet pairs alongside her partner.
“(The Calgary Open) is a large tournament – well over 500 competitors,” remarked Harrison’s father and Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison. The younger Harrison’s recent success means she will now have an opportunity to compete in the Taekwondo Canada National Championships Feb. 5-7 in Halifax, N.S. If successful at the national level, Harrison could go on to qualify of the world championships. Harrison is also featured on Taekwondo Canada’s poster promoting the Canada Open event scheduled for Calgary Feb. 26-28. This poster is distributed nationwide.
“I love the sport and love the competition,” Finn Harrison told Northern Pride. “Taekwondo is a very challenging sport to compete in and I put a lot of time and effort into doing my best at a high level. I’ve been very fortunate to have great coaching from a young age that has paid off into success in tournaments across Canada. I’m looking forward to the national championship this year and I am working hard to make Team Canada, and hope to compete at the world championships. Taekwondo also allows you to develop friendships from all over the country, which is great.” Harrison, along with her brother, Mac, first developed an interest in taekwondo at a young age. It began as a spark and soon developed into a true passion for the sport. They began by taking part in free classes at the YMCA in Regina and stuck with it ever since. One of their earliest coaches was Grand Master Sung Ju Kim who has been described as an icon of the Saskatchewan taekwondo world.
Jeremy Harrison, meanwhile, couldn’t help but express how much his daughter’s recent success means to him. “(My wife) Alaina and I are very proud of Finn,” he said. “She is very committed to taekwondo, which teaches great character values like diligence and respect. She works very hard at it and has earned the success she has achieved.”