By JASON PAUL -- Toronto Sun
  HAMILTON -- Dominique Bosshart is going to be a little lonely when she goes to Sydney in September.

 The 22-year-old is the sole Canadian taekwondo competitor to qualify for the Olympics, but Bosshart feels pretty confident she'll be bringing back some hardware.

 "I'm looking for a gold medal. I think it's a good possibility," Bosshart said yesterday. "It will be extraordinary for taekwondo in Canada, especially if I can get a gold medal. It's a pretty low-profile sport and it definitely gives us recognition to be a part of the Olympics."

 The Winnipeg resident, who earned a berth at the Pan American Olympic qualifying tournament in October in Miami, has put university on hold for two years to concentrate on her training.

 Bosshart continued her dominance in Canada when she won her eighth consecutive national championship yesterday, defeating Rosaria Marabella of Quebec at Hamilton's Mountain Arena.

 "I never take anything for granted. If anything, I'm underconfident," said Bosshart, whose family moved to Manitoba from Switzerland when she was 3-years-old. "It would be nice to have a team going, a strong Canadian team training together and preparing for the Olympics, but I'll use the rest of the team for support."

 The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Bosshart, who won a silver medal at last year's world championships in Edmonton, is going to train for two months near Seoul this summer before heading to Sydney.

 Taekwondo gained official Olympic status after being a demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992. There are 154 countries registered with the World taekwondo Federation, 45 of which will be competing in four categories: fin/fly, bantam/feather, light/welter and middle/heavyweights.

 Taekwondo is similar to karate except competitors can't punch in the face, points are earned by kicks to the face or chest protectors, and there is a bit more finesse involved.

 In other matches this weekend, Etobicoke's Eric Ahn defeated Hunnee Kim of East York to win the welterweight division while Quebec's Barbara Pak was the women's champion. Quebec's Darrell Henegan was the top male heavyweight.

 Other winners who qualified for the 2001 world championships: Quebec's Roxane Forget and Duk-Sang Ha of Saskatchewan (flyweight); Alberta's Cherie Travis and B.C.'s Paul Franco (middleweight); Quebec's Lynda Forget and David Arsenault (lightweight); Quebec's Natalie Caron and Raymond Mourad (bantamweight); B.C.'s Tonia Timperley and Shin Lim (finweight); and Quebec's Marie-Lou Emery and Evangelos Ligeros (featherweight)