4 Vernon Taekwon-Do athletes ready to take on World Cup in Spain
Published 3:30 pm Thursday, September 24, 2026
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Four Vernon athletes will soon step onto one of the biggest arenas in the sport of Taekwon-Do.
Sundance Taekwon-Do is sending Jack Sharkey, Jill Donald, Shawn Donald, and Ezekiel Richman to the 2026 ITF World Cup in Benidorm, Spain, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, where they will be among 2,681 competitors from 57 countries.
Canada’s 100 athletes form the eighth-largest delegation at the event.
Sharkey is no stranger to the world stage.
He has worn the Team Canada uniform at the 2023 ITF World Championships in Finland and the 2025 World Championships in Croatia where he placed fifth in patterns competition, and battled at the 2024 World Cup in Argentina. Benidorm marks his fourth major international event in four years.
For the Donald family, this World Cup is personal. Jill Donald, who represented Canada in Croatia in 2025, will compete alongside her father, Shawn, as the two take on the world together in a father-and-daughter World Cup appearance few athletes ever get to share.
Richman rounds out the team, ready to measure himself against some of the best competitors on the planet as he builds his international résumé.
Leading the team is Master David White, a seventh degree black belt, international master instructor and examiner, and owner and technical director of Sundance Taekwon-Do.
White served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2025 World Championships in Croatia, coached for Team Canada in Germany in 2019, and has been selected as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2027 World Championships in Paraguay.
“Every one of these athletes started on the mats here in Vernon, and now they’re taking Vernon to the world,” said White. “Jack and Jill know what this level feels like. Shawn gets to live it alongside his daughter. Ezekiel gets to prove what he can do against the best. This is what we train for all year, and we’re ready.”