Athletes from Aurora, Thornhill, Vaughan among final 100 in search for Canadian Olympians

Thestar.com
Oct. 22, 2021

Debate this: Athletes are made versus athletes are found.

The Canadian Olympic Committee will gladly combine both theories when it comes to finding hidden gems.

And medals.

Consider Kelsey Mitchell, for instance. The fourth-year University of Alberta varsity soccer player attended the RBC Training Ground recruitment program in 2017.

Four years later she had a track cycling gold medal around her neck at the Tokyo Olympics.

Her story is inspirational for young athletes who might be unaware where sport could take them. It is also evidence that potential stars could be twinkling just about anywhere.

Julien Binzangi, an Aurora resident, is one of three York region athletes advancing to the final 100 contestants for high-performance funding from the RBC Training Ground after their performances impressed recruiters at the COC’s annual cross-country talent search.

“I am really focused on basketball,” said Binzangi. “But watching the Olympics this summer really inspired me and my brother told me I should give this a try.

“I like seeing how far I can push myself and want to see what I might be good at, so making the top 100 has really inspired me.”

Kyle Drisdelle of Thornhill, and Vaughan resident Glory Ezeude have also given their Olympic dreams a nudge with excellent evaluation performances.

In recent months, more than 4,000 athletes from a wide range of sports have participated in the free search. They have performed core, speed, strength, power and endurance tests to possibly unlock previously unrealized potential.

The York region trio has attracted interest from scouts in rugby, track, cycling, speed skating and rowing.

A total of 30 athletes will emerge in January following a final round of testing to receive funding and a potentially accelerated path to the Olympics.

Drisdelle, a former rep hockey player and current first-year student at Wilfrid Laurier University, was initially inspired by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s 100-metre victory in the 2012 London Olympics.

“Then seeing Kelsey Mitchell from this program win a gold medal in a sport that was new to her motivated me even more,” said Drisdelle, 18, who has already attended an assessment with Speed Skating Canada.

Ezeude, who plays women’s rugby at Durham College in Oshawa, produced some of the top sprint and vertical jump results nationwide.

“Competing in the Olympics has always been a dream of mine,” said Ezeude. “Whenever I see the RBC Training Ground promotions and commercials on TV, I always get inspired to participate. Who knows where it might lead.”

“Some of the athletes who participate in RBC Training Ground are looking to accelerate an Olympic dream in a sport they are participating in,” said RBC Training Ground technical director Evan MacInnis.

“Others participate with the hope of being discovered and possibly directed toward an Olympic sport they may have never considered.”

Final testing includes measuring speed, power, strength and endurance against sport-specific, high-performance benchmarks over the course of a few hours.

At the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, eight RBC Training Ground athletes, including Mitchell, competed and won four medals.