Red Deer athlete wins Olympic talent search funding

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“Sadie had very good physical testing scores, and then demonstrated an ability to pick up luge specific skills very quickly,” said Mike Lane, Junior National Head Coach with Luge Canada. “She won a head-to-head paddling challenge and looked like a three-year veteran of the Junior National Team doing it.”

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“Then her national final performance really confirmed our hunch, so we are very excited to welcome her to our program and use this funding to help her reach her potential.”

Photos by Kate Dockeray, from the 2023 RBC Training Ground National Final in Toronto, December 2, 2023.

Officials point out, RBC Training Ground sees athletes from a wide range of sports perform core speed, strength, power, and endurance tests in front of Olympic talent scouts from nine different sports to find the sport for which they are most suited. The complete list of 30 athletes selected for funding is available at RBCTrainingGround.ca.

“Some of the athletes who participate in RBC Training Ground are looking to reenergize or boost an Olympic dream in a sport they are already participating in,” said Evan MacInnis, Technical Director, RBC Training Ground. “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 to impress our sport partners and compete for funding.”

Funding is administered by the participating National Sport Organization bringing the athlete into its system, and is used for things like coaching, transportation, travel, equipment, and nutrition. NSO partners include Boxing Canada; Canoe Kayak Canada; Climbing Escalade Canada; Cycling Canada Cyclisme; Freestyle Canada, Luge Canada; Rowing Canada Aviron, Rugby Canada; Speed Skating Canada; Triathlon Canada; Volleyball Canada, Boxing Canada; Climbing Canada; Triathlon Canada; and Wrestling Canada.

Now in its 8th year, RBC Training Ground is described as a nation-wide talent identification and athlete-funding program dedicated to finding and supporting the next generation of Canadian Olympians. Since its inception in 2016, the program has tested 14,000 athletes at free local events across Canada with more than 2,000 being identified by NSO partners as having elite potential.

The recognition is significant, as thirteen RBC Training Ground athletes have already competed at two Olympic Games, and together they’ve brought home a collective seven medals. Program alumni Kelsey Mitchell and Marion Thénault are among the medal winners, both of whom had never tried their Olympic sport before showing up at an RBC Training Ground event, only a few years before their Olympic debut.

A new season of RBC Training Ground, with events across Canada, begins in February, 2024. Visit RBCTrainingGround.ca for schedule and details.

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