A Canadian Olympian helps inspire local athletes to never give up

Fresh off the airplane from Tokyo and the 2020 Olympics, Canadian Taekwondo athlete Yvette Yong likely had many things planned in her schedule. Yet, just three days after she returned to Canada, Yong was on a video conference call with taekwondo students in Whitecourt. Not only did she chat with everyone and answer questions, but she also led a workout.

The incredible experience materialized thanks to relationships. “Master Wilhelm developed a relationship with the founder of 2020 Armor. They are good friends,” explained Master Jim Rennie. “He met Yvette through the owner of 2020 Armor. We reached out to him to see if someone from his executive could teach a class online, and he said, what about Yvette? My response was, are you serious?” Rennie’s excitement from that moment was still evident as he retold it.

The martial arts scoring vests, 2020 Armor, which the Whitecourt club uses, were featured on Dragon’s Den, and Yong was part of the presentation. In her one-on-one conference with the Whitecourt club, one of the students asks her what it was like. “It was so surreal. The most fun part was meeting all the judges afterwards. One of the investors put on the chest guard and asked me to kick him as hard as I could. For tv, I only kicked him a little bit,” laughed Yong.

With a laundry list of accomplishments, 31-year-old Yong has been involved with taekwondo since she was nine. As a child, she won a bronze at the 2005 Pan American Youth Championships and at sixteen, she won gold in the 47kg division at the Pan Am Championship. In 2010, Yong landed on four podiums. Two years later, she won Pan Am gold again. She has won multiple medals, including five golds between 2011 and 2012, from various events, including the Military World Games. Heading to the Olympics with fellow Canadian Skylar Park as the two taekwondo representatives for Team Canada was a dream come true.

Not only is Yong a proud Canadian Olympian, but she is also a proud member of the Canadian Armed Forces. As mentioned, she has won numerous medals at the Military World Games. When asked how she got on such a prestigious team, Yong explained that it starts with enlisting. “I’ve been on the team since 2010. First, before anything in the military, you have to become a military soldier or reserves. Then we attend the Military National Games, and depending on if you win or not, that’s how you get a place on the Military National Team.” Yong is enlisted in the reserves as a naval communicator and works on satellites, radios, flags, and flashing lights.

For Rennie, the experience was once in a lifetime. “I can’t think of another kid in small-town Alberta that would have the chance to talk to an Olympian about the same sport that they love. The kids here are from all across Alberta. Everyone here is passionate about it, and that’s the thing we all have in common. We love doing this, and we spend a lot of hours doing it, and they are the best hours.”

The virtual chat was part of SparCamp, the first sparring tournament since COVID locked things down. “This is the first chance in Alberta for fighters to get back together,” smiled Rennie. Fighters from communities throughout the region and into Saskatchewan attended the three-day event. Whitecourt Taekwondo took the initiative once restrictions were lifted. “We picked up a whole bunch of events. The first big tournament held province-wide, before Edmonton, before Calgary, is in Whitecourt.”

Roughly 45 to 50 people took part in SparCamp, which was for higher-level athletes. “We had a few blue belts, but almost everybody is a black belt. Lots of these kids have been in it since they were three or four years old. People that fall in love with it stick with it for a long time.” For Yvette, her love for the sport was obvious. “I was so close to retiring. Right before COVID, everything was going well for me. Work was going well, training was going well, everything was going well, and then everything just shut down. That was hard. I felt like maybe I should change careers, but something told me not to give up. So I didn’t, and I made it to the Olympics.”

Yong said that she is grateful for the experience. “Being at the Olympics inspired me even more, so now I’m going to do even more.” She then turned to the athletes before her. “Good for you for staying with it. It’s not easy. For all of you to keep training and have that mentality to keep going even when things are hard, that’s the first thing martial artists need, and you guys all have it. I’m proud of you. You are keeping the taekwondo community alive and strong. You are determined, and your focus is just impeccable. I’m proud of you as a master myself and as an athlete and an Olympian now. It’s still so surreal that I get to say that. I want to use that as much as I can to help spread my knowledge and my experiences and hopefully inspire anybody.”

Rennie said that she had already inspired the group more than she could ever know. “She just came back from the Olympics, and she’s talking to a group of kids from rural Alberta, and I think she made them feel like heroes for sticking to it. Some of these kids, their taekwondo schools closed, and they still hung in there, and she made them feel special. I don’t have a whole lot of heroes in my life, but when someone can do that for students, that brings tears to my eyes.”