A childhood dream stays a dream until it’s made into a reality.

Now that Kelowna decathlete James Turner has completed his collegiate track career, his sights are now set on becoming an Olympian – something he’s dreamt about since he was a kid.

With Rio 2016 only months away, the Active Care Athlete of the Month for May is definitely on the right track, but still has some significant legwork left to complete before he earns himself a spot on the Canadian Olympic roster.

Turner will have to tally 8,100 total points, gleaned from his scores in the 10 standard decathlon events — 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500m — in a single meet by July 10.

The Canadian Olympic Committee can take no more than three athletes for the decathlon event, and with only four meets remaining on the IAAF schedule before Rio 2016, the Kelowna Secondary School graduate has minimal room for error at the ones he chooses to enter prior to the cutoff. Damian Warner is the only Canadian to have qualified thus far in the decathlon.

While he recently set personal bests in pole vault (4.80m) and long jump (7.42m) at the Mt. Sac Relays in Azusa, Calif., ultimately his decathlon score (7,776 — also a personal best) was still 324 points shy of the Olympic qualifying standard. But Turner sees this as encouraging rather than indicative of his full potential. He knows it’s simply a matter of scoring his best in all 10 events over one weekend, rather than just a handful at a time. His next chance to do so is June 17-19 at the Pan American Combined Events meet in Ottawa.

“As a decathlete you have only a couple chances to qualify because you can do only a certain amount of decathlons in a season,” Turner said.

“The decathlon is its own beast in that you can have the capability of scoring 8,100 — my PBs add up to 8,300, so if you put all my best performances together I have met standard by over 200 points — but it’s a matter of putting it all together in all 10 events in one meet. That’s what I’ve got to do now — execute at each event. 8,100 is definitely within grasp.”

Though he’ll be back at the University of Toronto in September to finish the final semester of his kinesiology degree, to his advantage now is that he’s free of his educational and athletic obligations for the time being, and can focus solely on his Olympic bid.

“Not having school to worry about definitely helps a lot,” Active Care Athlete of the Month Turner admitted. “I’m able to train more and recover better. I can get into a pattern of going to bed early and waking up at the same time. It’s a huge advantage.”

Turner has chosen to train in Kelowna this summer, working with sprint/combined events coach Pat Ledding at the Okanagan Athletics Club (who he’s worked with since high school), and his massage therapist of choice, Rory Switzer.

Also by his side and pushing him on the track is his younger brother Rostam, a fellow Varsity Blues decathlete. Both will get their fill of running, jumping, and throwing at the Apple Bowl this summer.

“We’ve been good training partners,” said the elder Turner. “It’s good to run together and to have another eye to see technical things and watch for cues on jumps and throws. We both have our strengths and weaknesses, but we’re pretty similar. He’s a good discus thrower and I get some cues from him on that. I try to help him out on all the other events. It’s been really good.”

While it’s great to train together with his brother, the two have different goals at this stage, and James ultimately has to focus on his personal pursuit of competing at the Olympics. It’s a marvel that Turner’s path has led him to compete in the 10-event decathlon, considering he used to enter only three disciplines at a time when he was younger.

“When I started track I had three main events: the 200 metre, the long jump, and the discus,” Turner recalled, who concentrated on soccer until he joined the Okanagan Athletics Club (formerly the Kelowna Track and Field Club) at age 14. “I never really thought about the decathlon during those years. I did those events for three years before I started competing in the decathlon. I couldn’t really choose. I was always pretty well-rounded and once I found the decathlon I felt like the dream could come true just because I was able to excel in most events early on and pretty quickly. I was doing pretty well compared to the world early on so that was exciting.”

Being well-rounded is the key attribute for a decathlon athlete. Turner knows he doesn’t need to set world records in any one event. He just needs to score consistently high in every one he enters.

“You’re never going to be world-class in any one decathlon event because you’re not going to put all your time in that,” Turner reasoned. “You’re never going to have perfect technique in an event, so training involves just being solid at all of them. If I would have picked and trained specifically for, let’s say long jump, I probably could jump quite a bit further than what I’m jumping right now. But my talent is the ability to not only be a good runner, but also be a good thrower and jumper, versus other athletes who might not have that set of skills. Being well-rounded is what gives me the ability to excel in decathlon.”

Consistency remains the premium currency in terms of his training – while he needs to keep improving in order to score higher, Turner is not necessarily making any grandiose modifications to his regimen in hopes of realizing his Olympic dream. He’s preparing for this event the same way he would for any other, despite the cachet that is attached to the Olympic Games.

“I’m not doing anything crazy,” Turner said. “It’s just training the same way you were before. Training isn’t very glorious. You’re out there working hard, getting treatment, sleeping, eating — it’s nice to have that goal, but you’ve got to take it day by day and do the right things.

“Based on value and the number of athletes competing, there is nothing that compares to the Olympic Games. It’s the pinnacle, for sure. But training for them doesn’t feel that much different. I’m actually trying not to even think about them. It’s just part of the process — if I score high enough, that’s great and I’ll go. If I don’t, then I’ll just focus on getting the most out of my season. I’m letting things happen the way they will.”

Whether an appearance in Rio materializes or not, Active Care Athlete of the Month Turner plans to stick with athletics for years to come either way. But it is certainly not easy for an amateur athlete to support their competitive dreams financially on their own while dedicating the required amount of time to their craft. Aside from working part-time as a personal trainer to fellow track athletes, Turner has launched a fundraising campaign online for people willing to contribute to and support his athletic endeavors.

“I definitely plan on continuing with athletics. I’m young—I’m only 22 years old, and most guys at the Olympic Games will be about 26 or 27. It kind of relies on financial support though — having a good environment and good coach, equipment, travel, nutrition — that kind of stuff adds up. I’ve started an Olympic campaign to try to raise support for my trips and my training since I can’t really work too much.”

Turner invites any prospective financial supporters of his pursuit to visit his fundraising page, which also houses archived results and videos of Turner’s past events: https://trackieprofile.com/p/james.turner

James is also taking personal training bookings this summer from athletes looking to boost their performance on the track via email: james_turner12@hotmail.com

Honourable Mention: Leah and Rhianne McWilliam

Off to the a running start in the 2016 track and field season, twin sisters Leah and Rhianne McWilliam swept all three individual events they entered at both the Central Okanagan zone and Okanagan Valley district championships in May.

Leah sprinted to first place in the 100-metre at the zone meet with a time of 13.22 seconds while Rhianne finished second in 13.35. The 200-metre final saw Leah take first in 27.03 seconds and Rhianne second in 27.33. Leah’s winning time in the 400 was 1:01.49, while Rhianne was the runner-up in 1:02.98.

The Grade 12 Okanagan Mission Secondary school student athletes followed up by reaffirming their supremacy in the sprints at the Valley competition in Kamloops.

They repeated their sweep of the 100-, 200- and 400-metre events, the only difference being Rhianne edged out Leah in the 100-metres.

Rhianne dashed to top spot in the 100 with a time of 13.80, while Leah settled for second in 13.83 seconds. Meanwhile, Leah repeated her win in the 200 with a time of 27:10 and Rhianne took second place in 27.29. The 400-metre event saw Leah cross in 1:03.33 and Rhianne in 1:03.84.

Both earned a berth at the B.C. School Sports provincial track and field championships being held in Nanaimo June 2-4.

Honourable Mention: Shane Hiscock

A 15-year-old member of the Okanagan Gymnastics Centre in Kelowna, Shane Hiscock led a stellar contingent of male athletes at the recent Western Canadian gymnastics championships in Delta.

Hiscock earned a berth in five of six event finals, winning silver medals for his performance in floor exercise and on parallel bars, and claiming a bronze medal on the horizontal bar. He placed fifth overall.

The Okanagan Mission Secondary School student has been involved in gymnastics for 12 years, the past seven competitively.

Financing training and competitive fees on his own, Hiscock has his sights set on competing at the national open level in 2017 with high hopes of being a part of Team BC at nationals in Montreal.