Aspiring BMX and track rider Nico Martinez Arroyo learned how to cycle before he could walk. It has led to the Victoria teen being selected as one of 30 athletes to receive Olympic talent search funding from the RBC Training Ground program.
“I learned to cycle at 1 ½ years old and I’ve been living on a bike since then,” said the 15-year-old Royal Bay Secondary Grade 10 student.
That love of two-wheeled racing is built into the family DNA as both his dad and grandfather were competitive cyclists in their native Bolivia.
“This is a big deal and my family is proud of how I am doing,” Arroyo told the sa国际传媒, after the national funding recipients were announced Monday.
Arroyo developed his riding skills on the Juan de Fuca BMX track, which hosted the 2007 world championships, and on the Juan de Fuca 1994 Commonwealth Games velodrome, proving again that legacy matters.
“I’ve seen videos of the 2007 worlds that were held here a year before I was born and it’s sick watching those crowds and the BMX track facility that was left behind,” said Arroyo.
Also selected for funding in the newest intake is Ethan Pitcher, who competes in speed climbing at Boulders Gym in Central Saanich, and is currently involved in the qualifying process for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
More than 2,200 athletes athlete between the ages of 14 and 25 participated in the 2023 RBC Training Ground, the annual all-comers national talent search run in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Sport Institutes. Only 100 athletes were invited to the final, held in Toronto on Dec. 2, with 30 of the finalists selected for funding.
“I was super happy to be picked and it was a big surprise for sure,” said Arroyo.
Since its inception in 2016, the program has tested 14,000 athletes at free local events across sa国际传媒 with more than 2,000 athletes being identified as having elite potential. Seven Canadian medallists at the last two Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, were either discovered by Training Ground or redirected to a different sport through the program. That includes Tokyo Olympic gold-medallists Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River, a former cross-country skier on Mount Washington who was redirected by the program to the University of Victoria for rowing, and Kelsey Mitchell, a former University of Alberta Golden Bears soccer player, who was rerouted to track cycling.
“Nico [Arroyo] was one of the youngest participants at the RBC national final, but he achieved 1,435 watts on the six-second Watt bike power test, which really demonstrates some explosive qualities,” Cycling sa国际传媒 coach Kurt Innes of Victoria said in a statement.
“For someone this young, this is the highest power I have seen posted and is ahead of the normal high performance pathway we see even for sprint cyclists.”
Although Arroyo’s potential time won’t come until Los Angeles 2028 at the very outside and more likely Brisbane 2032, he isn’t hesitant about dreaming the big dream: “My goal is to ride in the Olympics, either BMX or track, and win a medal.”
He seems on the right track, whether it’s a BMX or velodrome track.
The 2024 Training Ground Talent search comes through Victoria again on March 2 at CARSA gym. All aspiring athletes are invited. Go to RBCTrainingGround.ca for information.
