The search to find one of Canada’s next great Olympic athletes is coming to Langley.
The Canadian Sport Institute Pacific (CSI Pacific) and PacificSport Fraser Valley are hosting an RBC Training Ground qualifier at the Langley Events Centre on Jan. 15.
RBC Training Ground is a program designed to help sport officials discover athletes with Olympic podium potential in various sports.
Athletes between the ages of 14 and 25 will execute a series of workouts measuring speed, power, strength and endurance in front of coaches and officials from the National Sports Organizations (NSOs).
The participants’ results will be measured against performance benchmarks to determine an athlete’s capacity for sport at its highest level.
“RBC Training Ground offers athletes an opportunity to be tested across four fun and challenging fitness stations. The best part is that it is a national program, and you will be compared against athletes all across Canada in these tests,” said Kurt Innes, the CSI Pacific talent development director.
“This is a really awesome program that will hopefully mobilize all athletes across our province to step up and see how well they can perform in each of these tests.”
The Langley testing will be done between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
In order to participate, the athletes must be Canadian citizens born between 1992 and 2003 and have competed — or have competed — in any sport at a minimum of high school, club, regional and/or college university level.
The athletes need to be fit, powerful and strong, as well as mentally tough, competitive and highly motivated.
This is one of five qualifiers around the province and the top 100 will be invited to the RBC Training Ground regional final at the CSI Pacific campus at the Richmond Olympic Oval on March 4.
The top athletes may be eligible to receive financial support towards their training and competition programs for up to three years and the standout performer at the regional final will be awarded a trip to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
RBC Training Ground began in 2016 with 400 athletes participating in four athletic combines across the country. Ninety-four athletes met the testing benchmarks set by NSOs, including 25 athletes who were selected to receive funding and support through RBC and the Canadian Olympic Foundation.