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Olympic hopeful shows off skills
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Natalie Hershberger showed off one of the types of kick she performs for taekwondo at the Austintown library on July 14.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Chris Hershberger held up an object for his daughter, Natalie Hershberger, to kick while showing off her different moves during her visit to the Austintown library on July 14.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
American taekwondo athlete Natalie Hershberger visited the Austintown library on July 14 with her father and coach, Chris Hershberger, to talk about what it is like to be an Olympic hopeful.
“Taekwondo is something that is very much part of our family, we are all blackbelts,” said Chris Hershberger.
Natalie started taekwondo when she was 6-years-old after watching her brother train. Training and competing in taekwondo competitions made Natalie eager for more. She told her father she wanted to earn an Olympic gold medal.
After Chris and Natalie talked about Natalie’s life growing up competing in competitions all around the nation, she showed some of her skills to the audience. The guests who attended were in amazement of the different types of moves Natalie showed them.
“I like to bike ride, I bike ride a lot. I like to read, listen to music is my number one favorite thing to do. I like to eat and of course do taekwondo,” said Natalie Hershberger.
The presentation ended with a question and answer session to allow the audience get to know Natalie better. She answered questions not just about her taekwondo, but about her personal life. Natalie and her father also gave away two autographed magazines that Natalie was featured in to two people who could answer the questions they asked correctly.
Although Natalie travels around for training and competitions, she still attends school and keeps her academics first priority. Natalie is currently in the process of a 10-year training plan in hopes to make it to the 2020 Olympics to win an Olympic gold.