Olympian visits with kids in martial arts class

Olympic Bronze Medalist Terrence Jennings made a special appearance at the White Tiger Martial Arts Center in Wheeling recently, spending time with young athletes from the local area.

Jennings was in the Chicago area promoting the 2015 Pan American Taekwondo Youth Opens, which were announced at a news conference as coming to Chicago Aug. 7-9 at Navy Pier.

"Anytime I can take the opportunity to stop and talk to kids about taekwondo and sports, it's so worth the effort," Jennings said.

"I remember being a kid and looking up to Olympians. I sometimes think it was all a dream," Jennings said about making it to the Olympic Games.

"It's a big responsibility. Kids look up to me now and that's something I take very serious."

Jennings, who represented the United States and brought home a bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics, is currently ranked as one of the top taekwondo athletes in the world, putting him in the running to make a second Olympic appearance in Rio 2016.

"We were honored to have Mr. Jennings stop in at our school," said Head Master Shik Lee, owner of White Tiger. "I was contacted a couple days before the event by his representative and we were of course excited to have him come."

While visiting with the kids, he showed them a few pointers, took pictures with them and signed autographs.

• Submit 'Your News' at www.dailyherald.com/share.