A Kajaks athlete will represent Team Canada at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships.
The competition started yesterday and goes unitl Aug. 31, the tournament will take place in Lima, Peru, and will host athletes from 43 nations.
Lower Mainland locals Aidan Turner, a product of Richmond-based Kajaks Track & Field Club, and Mackenzie Hurtubise, a member of the Langley Mustangs Track and Field Club, were selected to represent Canada earlier this month along with 25 other athletes.
Turner, a 19-year-old from Tsawwassen, will compete in the decathlon for Canada. He graduated in 2023 and is now attending California State Long Beach University.
He joined Kajaks when he was nine, training in different sports and later moving to another club to practice pole vault. Turner later returned to the Kajaks, and in 2021 he participated in his first decathlon.
The Richmond-based sports club played a key role in his success, said Turner.
“Working with my mom, who is a coach at Kajaks, Garrett Collier, who was the head coach, and Byron Jack, who was my long jump coach there - all their support was definitely influential to where I've gotten now,” he said.
Turner’s favourite event among the different decathlon disciplines is the long jump, and he is eager to showcase his improvements in other sports.
With school starting soon, his daily routine has been focused on eating, sleeping and training with the tournament right around the corner.
“School actually starts next week when I'm away; I messaged all my professors to make sure I don't get dropped from any classes. Thankfully, they've all responded and said they're holding my seat,” he said.
However, his athletic career was not all smooth sailing – a severe ankle injury in preparation for the 2023 Pan American U20 Athletics tournament set him back, but motivated him to return even stronger.
Getting Team Canada’s confirmation email on Aug. 8 was a dream come true after three years of hard work, he added.
“The injury was pretty devastating, but it motivated me to put in a lot more work this year. I'm super happy to go and represent Canada.”
Turner currently holds the Canadian U18 decathlon record and the U20 indoor heptathlon record.
Another athlete called to the international tournament is Mackenzie Hurtubise, a 17-year-old from Langley who will represent Canada in the pole vault event.
She currently competes for the Langley Mustangs Track and Field club and has been involved in track her entire life.
Hurtubise began pole vaulting in 2019 after being a competitive gymnast for many years.
The Mustangs have certainly helped develop her sprint and high jump abilities, but her pole vaulting success can be attributed to her coach Jamie Sinclair from Trinity Western University.
With her senior year still to come, Hurtubise has been mostly focused on training for the tournament.
“I just got back from a few days away with friends to reboot and get ready for the competitive environment I'll be going into,” she said. “I've been doing a course as well, so my daily routine was school and practice. Right now, I'm focusing on just getting in the best shape I can for the competition.”
The biggest challenge she's had to deal with is ankle injuries, especially a bad one a few months ago that required physiotherapy and changes to her training.
Additionally, the pressure of being a young athlete can be emotionally challenging, but having supportive people around her has helped to overcome it, she said.
When the good news came on Aug. 8, Hurtubise said she was speechless and felt grateful for the opportunity to participate in such an important tournament.
“I am mostly excited and nervous. I'm just grateful to be able to go through this experience,” she said. “It's gonna be my first chance to compete in an international competition under Team Canada. Words can't really describe it.”
Hurtubise currently holds the British Columbia U18 record and achieved her best result of four metres in Toronto last month.
Both of these young athletes have their sights on representing Canada at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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