Aspiring Olympians try out for RBC Training Ground at UBC Okanagan

Dozens of aspiring Olympians were doing their best hops, sprints and flexes at the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium on Sunday.

They are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Kelowna’s own Jerome Blake by becoming RBC Training Ground athletes. Since its inception in 2016, the program has tested more than 16,000 athletes from across Canada for Olympic potential.

“They start here at one of the provincial events that go all across Canada. They do the testing and there’s, I think, 15 NSOs, national sport organizations at these events to scout out different athletes,” said program ambassador Elena Gaskell, an Olympic freestyle skier from Vernon.

“And then, the different sports will pick the athletes from the national final. It will give them the opportunity to go into the sports, whether it’s funding, the training, coaching – all the resources they would need to make it to a high level in competition and then reach those Olympic dreams.”

Many of the athletes were trying out for the first time. Others were giving it another shot.

For some, it’s a chance to be introduced to a sport they might have never discovered if not for RBC Training Ground.

The national sport organization on hand at UBCO were looking for the building blocks of a future champion.

“We can take athletes from 14 to 18, and our peak age in speed skating really isn’t until you’re into your 20s,” said coach Christine Hank of Speed Skating Canada.

The Top 100 athletes from qualifiers will advance to the National Final and up to 35 RBC Future Olympians will receive funding and resources to further develop in their sport.

The program has helped 21 athletes reach the Olympic Games, 12 who have brought home medals, including Blake, who has won silver and gold as part of the men’s 4x100 relay team.