Feeley feelin’ like a champ

Lloydminster’s Lucas Feeley can officially say he’s a World Cup Taekwon-Do champion.

Feeley recently won gold in the Specialty Technique for High Kick in Argentina during the 9th International Taekwon-Do Federation’s (ITF) Taekwon-Do World Cup.

The last time the Meridian Source talked to Feeley he was preparing for the ITF World Championships in Finland from Sept. 4-10 with his dad and coach, Chris Feeley, who owns Lloydminster’s Torrent TKD.

Before Finland, Feeley was quoted saying a world Taekwon-Do title has been a dream for a long time. A dream he’s turned into reality.

“Finally, it hit. Finally, we’re World Cup champs. All the hard work and everything just washes over you. It’s a bit of disbelief, excitement; it’s the whole nine yards,” said Feeley when asked about the experience.

For Argentina, Feeley focused on flexibility, explosiveness and a 15-lbs weight cut.

“Cutting 15 lbs was a challenge, especially with heavy training sessions,” he said, noting he fought at 151 lbs. 

“Making weight was definitely the first milestone we checked for Argentina.”

This wasn’t Feeley’s first international competition. It was, however, the first time he noticed he was significantly shorter than the competition.

“I was definitely one of the shorter dudes competing,” he said.

In the finals, Feeley faced competitors from New Zealand and Poland. They were the only three to surpass the first round with 70 other competitors.

“The New Zealander who’s six foot six and the Polish guy who’s six foot four are standing next to me on the podium … I’m in first and they’re still taller than I am on the podium,” said Feeley. “I remember seeing that and thinking how cool it was. In that moment I felt like a total badass. It was a really cool feeling.”

For the high kick event, the target started at 260 cm and was raised to 270 cm for the finals.

“I watched the Polish guy miss his break before it was my turn to go,” he said. “It’s the same routine I’ve practised 1,000 times and it’s all going to be over in a second.”

“It’s almost like you’re in a blackout blur.”

In preparation for Argentina, Feeley worked with Colin at Viking Strength in Lloydminster.

“I’ve been doing the social media for Viking for a while. Viking brought in a sports performance specialist from Edmonton to start building a sports performance department at Viking,” he said, explaining improving his flexibility was vital.

“My next competition will be in Croatia in October 2025. The first thing on the list of priorities for Croatia is getting my flexibility down … I have to maximize my flexibility for these kicking events because I don’t have the height advantage other guys do. It’s not fun, but it’s worth it.”

Read more: Feeley feelin’ good for Finland Worlds

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Taylor Weaver
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