In an ideal world, 24 is the age when Matthew Sharpe might have been on beam to join the nearly 50 Island-based athletes who will compete this summer in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But, because of frustrating injuries and illness over the last four years, that is not going to happen for Rio. Yet the 2012 Canadian U-23 champion and 2010 national junior champion triathlete from Victoria again displayed his ample talent and potential, when healthy, by earning the silver medal in a Canadian sweep of the podium Sunday at the CAMTRI Sprint American Continental Cup in Richmond, Virginia.
Russell Pennock of Calgary was first in 50:19.36, Sharpe second in 50:26.84 and rising senior-circuit rookie Charles Paquet of Port Cartier, Que., third in 50:43.00.
It may be that Sharpe鈥檚 trek to Tokyo 2020 is starting now. The second place Sunday in Virginia matched the Islander鈥檚 silver medal last year in the Oceania Cup in Mooloolaba, Australia.
鈥淭he last few years have seen a significant number of over-use injuries, which I finally feel I am getting on top of,鈥� said Sharpe.
Then came the car crash last fall, when Sharpe was T-boned in Gordon Head: 鈥淚 lost a ton of training time. Luckily, I did not suffer any long-term injuries. Since then, I鈥檝e seen consistent training and steadily improving results that give me confidence I can produce sustainable, high-level performances into the future.鈥�
Sharpe, who was raised in Campbell River before moving down-Island to train and graduate from Claremont, made his multi-sport event debut at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. He trains under coach Jonathan Hall at the Victoria national high-performance centre.
Meanwhile, Dominika Jamnicky of Guelph, Ont., captured the women鈥檚 bronze in the Virginia event Sunday. She is part of a group that includes 2006 world junior champion and 2014 Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria, former world No. 1 Paula Findlay of Edmonton, Victoria-based Ellen Pennock of Calgary, Amelie Kretz of Blainville, Que., and Sarah-Anne Brault of Quebec City chasing the three Canadian women鈥檚 berths for the Rio Olympics.
Triathlon sa国际传媒, which is based in Victoria, will fill the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 Rio Olympic spots by the May 15 deadline, based on race points accumulated by the athletes over the past two years.
The men鈥檚 Olympic race is Aug. 18 and women鈥檚 Aug. 20 at Fort Copacabana.
