Standout taekwondo competitor Adam Bartlett, 13, recently won a gold medal at the U.S. Open International Taekwondo Championships.

It’s the second time Bartlett has placed first in his division at the U.S. Open, an event that includes competitors from around the world. The competition was held in Orlando, Florida, in late January.

He won his first gold medal at the same event in 2012.

A Kalispell Middle School eighth-grader, Bartlett has been training and competing in taekwondo events year-round since his parents, Richard and Rita Bartlett, enrolled him in the Kinder Kick program at Big Sky Martial Arts when he was 4. He said the discipline and self-control learned from martial arts are what drive him forward.

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that combines combat and self-defense techniques with sport and exercise.

Bartlett has been coached by Grand Master John Paul Noyes since he joined the martial-arts studio.

“Adam is very coachable,” Noyes said. “He listens and he’s willing to put the work in. That’s nice from a coach’s standpoint.”

Bartlett earned his first-degree black belt when he was 10 and said that was a turning point in his quest to become a top-caliber athlete. He earned his second-degree black belt when he was 12.

His goal is to earn a position on the U.S. National Taekwondo Team this year.

“I’m confident that I am capable of doing so,” Bartlett said.

His coach agreed.

“Adam is very capable of making the national team,” Noyes said. “We’re kind of on a roll.”

Noyes is a regional coach who works with the national team.

The ultimate dream, Bartlett said, is to make it to the Olympics. Taekwondo was introduced as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, and became a full medal sport in 2000.

Bartlett has been involved in several other youth sports, competing in football, baseball and soccer. He twice earned spots on the Kalispell All-Star Little League and Babe Ruth baseball teams.

He also has won the Kalispell Punt, Pass and Kick competition for his age group the past four years and took second in the Montana western division competition in 2011.

He said he likely will scale back his other sports to concentrate fully on taekwondo.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at [email protected].