Chilliwack/Langley – In February 2018, Austin Atkins, a Level 1 athlete that is part of Canoe Kayak’s national development program, participated in an Olympic talent identification program called RBC Training Ground when it came to Langley.
RBC Training Ground is a series of cross-Canada talent search events designed to bring new/undiscovered talent into the Canadian Olympic pipeline, and give a boost young athletes ready to take the next step. Athletes (between 14 and 25) are invited to test their speed, power, strength and endurance – in front of officials from national sport organizations (NSOs) – at free events across the country. The program then links undiscovered or up-and-coming athletes with a sport that could excel them onto the podium. Identified athletes receive funding support from RBC.
Austin’s results in Langley were so strong (reaching several elite and developmental benchmarks – designed to measure an athlete’s physical potential to reach the very highest level of an Olympic sport) that he is one of only thirty athletes from across Canada to have been chosen by the program for ‘Future Olympian’ funding .
To put the accomplishment (and how intense the competition was) into perspective, at events across the country last year, more than 3,182 athletes were tested. Of those, 588 were invited for additional testing by an national sport organization or invited to a regional final. Of those 588, only thirty (including Atkins) were announced by the program this month to have been awarded funding to accelerate their Olympic journey. Austin was one of only four British Columbia athletes to receive the recognition.
For Atkins, the funding support, administered by Canoe Kayak Canada, will help pay for things like travel, international competitions, coaching at Athletics Canada’s Western Hub while he attends U Vic, and nutrition associated with now being part of Athletics Canada’s elite development program.
