RBC Training Ground in Winnipeg searching for next Olympians

Evan MacInnis, technical director with RBC Training Ground, speaks on April 2, 2022. (CTV News Winnipeg)

Winnipeg athletes were put through the paces, to see if they have the potential to become Olympians.

RBC’s Training Ground made a stop at the Duckworth Centre at the University of Winnipeg on Saturday. The program runs several drills and tests to determine if athletes have potential to one day reach the Olympics.

Evan MacInnis, technical director with RBC Training Ground, said approximately 70 athletes participated in Winnipeg.

“There’s a lot of great potential here, from what we’ve seen,” he said. “There are some strong athletes and fast athletes and athletes with endurance, all that would probably find a really good match with one of our partners.”

MacInnis said the results from the drills and tests will be sent to partner organizations, with athletes being identified and contacted for sport-specific testing.

MacInnis said since RBC Training Ground launched seven years ago, 1,300 Canadian athletes have been identified as having Olympic potential, with 11 athletes representing Canada during the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics, winning seven medals.

“We thought it might take a little more time to start to see results like that, but these athletes would have gone through this event in 2017, 2018, so who we test today, maybe we’ll see in Paris or LA.”

RBC will hold several more Training Ground events across Canada in April.