Lucas Zhou, a 16-year-old BMX racer from Surrey, is a top-100 finalist in RBC Training Ground, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s cross-country talent search.
He was among 2,500 athletes (aged 14 to 25) from a wide range of sports who participated in free local qualifier events across the country earlier this year.
Zhou and others performed core speed, strength, power and endurance tests in front of Olympic talent scouts, "to either find the sport for which they are most suited, or earn a funding boost in their existing sport based on their raw physical abilities," according to a news release sent by Stellick Marketing Communications on Wednesday (Oct. 2).
The top 100 deemed to have "great Olympic potential" will now compete in the RBC Training Ground national final on Saturday Nov. 2 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Thirty athletes will earn funding, a spot on Team Canada with one of 12 partner national sport organizations (NSOs), and an accelerated path to the Olympics.
“At (age) 16, the power testing numbers Lucas recorded are at the level of our U23 athletes,” Adam Muys, national team coach and BMX lead at Cycling Canada, said in the news release.
“This is important as combined with his skills on the bike, currently sitting top 5 in the U.S. national series, we think he could be one of the world's best Junior riders next year.”
Zhou, who lives in South Surrey, welcomes the opportunity to compete in the RBC Training Ground national final early next month.
“It can be expensive travelling to races and events, so support would be great," he said. "I am also excited to represent my sport and the whole BMX community. There will be athletes from so many sports, it should be really interesting.”
During national final testing in Halifax, athletes’ speed, power, strength and endurance will again be tested against sport-specific, high-performance benchmarks under supervision of program sport partners. Event organizers say that an athlete’s anthropomorphic measurements (height, wingspan, and more), sport-specific testing (conducted following the qualifier stage) and competitive sport history also play a role in who is selected for funding.
The 100 finalists, listed on RBCTrainingground.ca, will have transportation, hotel and food covered by RBC, and will be joined in Nova Scotia by RBC Training Ground alumni and several Olympic medallists.
The 30 athletes selected for funding will be announced in the weeks following the final, for things like coaching, transportation, travel, equipment and nutrition. The national sports organizations involved include Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, Canoe Kayak Canada, Climbing Canada, Cycling Canada, Freestyle Canada, Luge Canada, Rowing Canada, Rugby Canada, Speed Skating Canada, Volleyball Canada, Football (Flag) Canada, Squash Canada and Wrestling Canada.
RBC Training Ground got off the ground in 2016 as "a nation-wide talent identification and athlete-funding program dedicated to finding and supporting the next generation of Canadian Olympians." The program has tested 16,000 athletes at free local events across Canada, and more than 3,000 have been identified by NSO partners as having Olympic potential.
