Long Island Sports Spotlight: Whitman Senior Represents Team USA At Taekwondo Worlds

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Walt Whitman High School senior is representing the United States on the world stage this weekend, adding another chapter to a taekwondo career that has taken him to international competitions across three disciplines.

Preston Park, a senior at the South Huntington school, is scheduled to compete Saturday and Sunday at the 2026 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea. The championships began Wednesday and run through Sept. 20 at the Songam Sports Town Air Dome.

His story leads the first edition of Long Island Sports Spotlight, a new Patch series highlighting athletes, teams, coaches and notable accomplishments from across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Each edition will feature a closer look at a local sports story, along with other achievements and coverage from around Long Island.

Whitman Senior Earns Fourth Team USA Selection

Park earned spots in two events at the U.S. national team trials in Tulsa, Oklahoma, held Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, according to a release from his father and coach, Jay Park.

The selections mark his fourth time earning a place on a USA Taekwondo national team. His previous selections took him to the 2022 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in South Korea, the 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the 2024 World Taekwondo Virtual Taekwondo Championships in Singapore, his father said.

Park has represented the United States in three taekwondo disciplines: kyorugi, or sparring; poomsae, which involves performing prescribed sequences of techniques; and virtual taekwondo.

At this year’s world championships, Park is scheduled to compete in mixed-pair recognized poomsae alongside Anna Chang of California. He is also entered in recognized male team poomsae with Whye Jing Ong of New Jersey and David Gil of Virginia, according to the release.

The return to the World Poomsae Championships carries particular significance for Park. During the 2022 competition in Goyang, South Korea, he and Julia Cho won silver in the cadet mixed-pair division, a result confirmed by USA Taekwondo.

This year’s championships will be his first appearance at the World Poomsae Championships since that medal-winning performance four years ago.

The Whitman senior has built an extensive competitive résumé over 11 years in taekwondo. His family reports that he has earned 211 medals, including 121 gold, 41 silver and 49 bronze. Thirty-seven of those medals came at international championships.

His father also highlighted Park’s international achievements in sparring and poomsae, including a Pan American sparring championship and his world championship silver medal.

Park and Chang have already competed together this year. The pair won gold in the junior pair division at the 2026 U.S. Open Championships in March.

Park is scheduled to compete on Sept. 19 and 20, the final two days of the world championships, and is expected to return to the United States on Sept. 22, his father said.

The competition marks another international appearance for a Long Island student whose taekwondo career has stretched from youth competition to representing the United States at world championships.

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Have a Long Island sports story to share?

Coaches, athletic directors, school officials, athletes and families across Nassau and Suffolk counties can send standout performances, final scores, championship updates, milestones, feature ideas and photos to Kepherd Daniel at kdaniel@patch.com for consideration in a future Long Island Sports Spotlight.