GUELPH – Anyone with Olympic dreams just may find their opportunity with an event going on in Guelph.
The RBC Training Ground Olympic talent search, with scouts from nine Olympic sports, is holding a free event in Guelph for the first time ever.
Now entering its seventh year, RBC Training Ground has already found and funded seven Canadian Olympic medallists, and put hundreds more into Canada’s Olympic talent pipeline.
On April 24, area athletes are invited to see if they might be suited for an Olympic sport, even one they’ve never considered, and potentially earn funding for their own Olympic journey.
At each qualifying event participants will perform speed, strength, power, and endurance benchmark testing in front of National Sport Organizations.
In year six of the program, University of Guelph student Talia Hoffman was identified through the talent search and awarded Future Olympian funding by Rugby Canada.
The Guelph event is one of 14 happening across the country this spring.
The top 100 athletes will be selected to compete in the RBC Training Ground National Final, and potentially earn funding support as an RBC Future Olympian.
The National Final will take place in a time and format that places the utmost priority on the health and safety of participants.
Here are the details:
April 24, 9am to noon at the Gryphons Athletics Centre, 175 Reynolds Walk at the University of Guelph.
Local athletes ages 14 to 25 should register at RBCTrainingground.ca.
Olympic talent scouts from nine different sports will be looking for exhibits of core speed, power, strength and endurance.
National Sport Organization program partners in 2022 include:
– Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada;
– Canoe Kayak Canada;
– Cycling Canada Cyclisme;
– Freestyle Canada,
– Luge Canada;
– Rowing Canada Aviron,
– Rugby Canada;
– Speed Skating Canada; and
– Volleyball Canada.
Since its inception in 2016, the program has tested 10,000 athletes across Canada, with over 1,300 athletes being identified by National Sport Organizations as having Olympic potential (many in a sport they had never considered).
Seven of these athletes medalled at the recent Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Games.
“RBC Training Ground is designed to help identify and support the next generation of Olympic talents, and provide athletes with the high-performance sport resources needed to achieve their podium dreams,” said Evan MacInnis, technical director, RBC Training Ground.
“While some participants are looking to re-energize or boost an Olympic dream in a sport they are already pursuing, others participate with the hope of being discovered and directed toward an Olympic sport they may have never considered.
“But they all rely on raw athleticism and determination to attract the attention of our sport partners and are excited to see where this program can take them.”
