The mantra for all athletes, in sports whose fields for the Tokyo Olympics have not yet been filled, is to do well in every race before July because they may not get many of them.
Matt Sharpe of Victoria did just that in capturing the bronze medal over the weekend in the Clermont Draft Legal Challenge triathlon sprint-distance race in Florida.
鈥淚 finished up behind two Americans who are battling for their Olympic spots,鈥� said Sharpe.
鈥淚 felt it was a good effort in a solid field. It is a great indicator of my form for this season and a great sign that the work with my coach, Lance Watson, has us on track for Tokyo.鈥�
Sharpe and fellow-Canadian Joanna Brown relocated to Arizona in December to train.
The qualification process for the 2020 Summer Games, which are already delayed by a year, has been greatly hindered by the pandemic. According to the Canadian Press, 28 of sa国际传媒鈥檚 35 summer national sport organizations have not yet filled out their rosters for the Tokyo Olympics.
鈥淭here may be some qualification races in May or June. We鈥檒l find out. If not, they may have to get creative with the selection process,鈥� said Sharpe who was born and raised in Campbell River, and came to Victoria to train and graduated from Claremont Secondary.
It could simply, and brutally, come down to the latest world rankings. Those would be spotty at best in almost all sports, most dating prior to March of 2020.
If the qualification process ended today, Sharpe and Tyler Mislawchuk of Oak Bluff, Man., would get the two Canadian men鈥檚 berths into the Tokyo Olympics based on current rankings.
But it would be agonizing for sa国际传媒鈥檚 world No. 9-ranked mixed-relay team to miss one of the eight Tokyo berths by just one spot.
鈥淲e believe our Canadian relay team is capable of medalling in Tokyo,鈥� said Sharpe.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 Olympic mixed relay hopes are buoyed by a deep pool from which to select It includes Sharpe, Brown, Mislawchuk, Amelie Kretz, Alexis Lepage, Cowichan Bay鈥檚 Desirae Ridenour and Victoria鈥檚 Hannah Henry. The combination of Ridenour, Henry, Lepage and Charles Paquet won silver at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games while the quartet of Sharpe, Ridenour, Mislawchuk and Brown was fourth in the tougher 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Sharpe was also fourth in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games relay with fellow-Victorian Kirsten Sweetland.
The best Canadian bets for the individual men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 races in Tokyo are Mislawchuk, Sharpe and Brown.
sa国际传媒 has two Olympic medals in triathlon with Simon Whitfield of Victoria winning men鈥檚 gold at Sydney in 2000 and silver at Beijing in 2008.
Sharpe, meanwhile, will race again this weekend in another Florida event.
鈥淢y goal is to win it,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut the most important thing is to get back to racing motion. There are certain things about racing that you simply can鈥檛 replicate in training.鈥�
