A pair of members from Sarnia Olympic Taekwondo Academy made a big splash during a recent tournament in Las Vegas.
Thirteen-year-old Austin St. Jean and 12-year-old Arveer Akash each won a bronze medal at the Amateur Athletic Union Taekwondo nationals held at the MGM Grand Arena July 3-9.
With over 3,500 competitors from across North America, Sarnia’s contingent put in a great showing, said Sarnia Olympic Taekwondo master Mark Warburton.
St. Jean finished third in his intermediate sparring division after defeating athletes from Minnesota and Utah, dropping a close semi-final match to a player from Utah.
Akash advanced through his quarterfinal round in the novice division and lost his semi-final by one point to an athlete from New York.
Other Sarnia Olympic Taekwondo Academy members who competed at the tournament included Brandon Tang, who finished in the second round of the junior black belt under 68-kilogram competition and Ben Thomas, who placed sixth out of 47 athletes in the eight to nine-year- old
middle group.
The school will be sending a team to the President’s Cup competition in Jackson, Florida this August as well as the Rubber City Championship in Akron, Ohio in September.