BARRIE, Ontario — Barrie fighter Taylor Malynyk has found a ton of success lately, medaling in her last two international competitions.

Malynyk travelled to Italy in mid-October to represent Team Canada in K-1 kickboxing at the 2021 WAKO World Championship.

A trained Muay Thai fighter and K-1 kickboxer, the 18-year-old earned a bronze medal in her weight class (-56 kg).

“It was pretty intense. I knew going in that I was going to be seeing people from all around the world, all different kinds of backgrounds in martial arts and when I got there that’s exactly what is was,” Malynyk said. “I definitely had to adapt to a lot of different styles and a lot of different techniques, but as soon as I got into the ring it just came naturally. The energy of everyone watching, all the spectators – it was amazing.”

Malynyk won her first fight of the event against Croatia’s Nikolina Vidackovic.

Her second fight was supposed to be against Slovakia’s Viktoria Kazikova, but Kazikova got hurt prior to her tilt with Malynyk and withdrew from competition.

In her final fight of the event, Malynyk lost to Finland’s Essi Honkonen to place third overall among 15 countries.

“I was happy with it. I feel like my performances were the best that I could of done,” she said. “I fell short by just a few points. I was so close, but there is always next year. I am definitely going back for gold.”

She said the chance to be part of Team Canada and to represent her country was something that really meant a lot to her.

“It was awesome. A lot of us did really well. It was great to be able to support my teammates when I wasn’t fighting,” Malynyk said. “It was all televised, so we could see the fights on the screen and in real life. It was surreal and just an amazing experience.”

The competition took place from Oct. 15-24.

Malynyk returned home and shifted her focus to the WAKO North-Central American-Caribbean Championship in Mexico from Nov. 11-14.

Not only did she compete in K-1 kickboxing as part of Team Canada, Malynyk was also placed in the low kick division due to a shortage of fighters after some countries pulled out because of issues surrounding COVID-19.

Malynyk placed first in both divisions, giving her two gold medals.

“[My success] all happened within such a short amount of time, but I feel like I was ready for it,” Malynyk said. “I worked my butt off so I definitely deserved it.”

Malynyk has some local fights coming up, but will spend a lot of her free time focusing on school. She’s currently studying to become a firefighter.

If any major events do arise, Malynyk said she would be ready to compete.

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