The talented teenager captured silver in the men’s black belt under-17 finweight class at the Amateur Athletic Union Taekwondo National Championships in Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

The result sealed his place at the United States national team trials, scheduled to be held over the next three days in Des Moines in Iowa.

"I feel happy because my whole life, I’ve been doing tournaments, but I never really got any medals," said Bertelsen in a report by Hawaii News Now.

When asked what his ambitions are in the sport, Bertelsen added: "To maybe fight in the Olympics."

AHawaiin taekwondo player has yet to compete at the Olympics. 

Miles Kiffmann, instructor at Maui Elite Taekwondo Center, is hoping to help Bertelsen achieve his dream.

"[He’s] really exceptional," said Kiffmann.

"[He has the] perfect body type for the sport.

"It’s only going to get better from here.

"He’s here every day so he’s grinding every day.

"Performance is always there and now I see a lot more creativity, which is really cool.

"I always like to look for that, especially in martial arts."