Kerrobert’s Kayden Johnson was recently crowned the RBC Training Ground regional winner for Manitoba-Saskatchewan. The program, which began in 2016, identifies athletes, through a series of athletic tests, who have the potential to one day represent Canada at the Olympic level.
Kevin McBain
of The Crossroads
Kerrobert’s Kayden Johnson is a natural and very gifted athlete with a huge smile and a commanding presence that exudes confidence in whatever he is doing.
He has donned the Maple Leaf for his country more than once and hopes to do it again, but on the largest stage of them all – the Olympics.
The 22-year-old son of Winchester and Angy Johnson recently earned the top athlete award at the RBC regional Training Ground competition for Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Not only did he earn the top athlete, he ‘crushed it,’ setting a new Saskatchewan record in the process.
The RBC Training Ground, for athletes between the ages of 14 and 25, was launched in 2016 to identify athletes – through a series of events that test speed, strength and endurance – who have potential to represent Canada at the Olympic level.
The program started off small, but this year had 32 qualifying events and six regional events throughout the country.
Earning this award will definitely open the doors for him.
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First, it brings him recognition. Next, it will give him the opportunity for the very highest level of training and funding.
Johnson just completed his third of a five-year course in theatre at York University, where he is also the starting running back for the York Lions and a star on the track and field team.
In April, he was named as the school’s athlete of the year after winning the OUA and USports gold medals in the 60-metre hurdles. He earned first-team OUA all-star and USports all-Canadian honours.
The competition
The 6’3”, 215 lb. athlete learned about the program as he trains in the same facility as the 2016 overall winner, decathlete Pierce LePage, who earned a silver medal at the most recent Commonwealth Games in Australia in April.
Johnson went to the Training Ground qualifier in Toronto and he said that he was ready for the event.
“My coaches prepared me well for the event and I went into the event very confident,” he said.
From the Toronto qualifier, the top 100 athletes moved on to the regional event in Winnipeg that put the athletes through even more difficult tests.
Testing at the qualifying event included sprint tests for speed, isometric mid-thigh pulls for strength, vertical jump for power and shuttle runs for endurance.
In the regional competition, they again tested speed through a series of sprints, a six-second bike sprint, a concept dyno to test an athlete’s push/pull strength, single broad jump, standing triple jump and a an endurance test on a arm/leg bike. This last test was his toughest.
“The endurance ride was definitely the toughest thing to do,” he said. “You had to go as hard as you could for as long as you could. After that test I couldn’t even walk.”
Athletes had to stay above their set revolutions per minute target for as long as they could. Johnson did this for eight-and-a-half minutes.
“They have events that test your strength and they combine those for one score,” he said. “I set a new record for Saskatchewan in that.”
There are 14 national sport organization partners involved in this year’s event, including athletics, rugby, cycling, judo, canoe/kayak, water polo, basketball (women’s), speed skating, freestyle, rowing, cross country skiing, wrestling, bobsleigh/skeleton and snowboarding.
Out of those 14, three (so far) organizations have approached Johnson in hopes of recruiting him for further training: Cycling Canada, Bobsleigh/Skeleton Canada and Rugby Canada.
What’s next?
Just recently, he won the national championships in track and field in March in the 60-metre hurdles competition held in Windsor, again setting a record in this event, running it in 7.9 seconds.
This he dubs as a career highlight thus far.
He will be kept busy the next couple of months training and attending track and field competitions.
Last weekend, he was in Calgary competing in hurdles and will compete in four or five other meets scattered throughout the Prairies, before competing at the national competition in Ottawa in July.
He has also set his sights on making Team Canada for the NACAC (North American-Canadian-Caribbean) championships that will be held in Toronto in August.
If he does make this team, it will not be his first time donning the Maple Leaf, having competed at the Junior Pan American Cup with Athletics Canada and competing in the World Junior Championships in football.
Beyond this year, he is excited for the CFL draft for which he will be eligible for in two years. He is also looking at the bigger picture – the 2020 Olympics.
One of his heroes is Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive. “I like his attitude. He is so relaxed and he is also very respected in his sport.”
Beyond sports, he says he enjoys acting and wants to put his schooling to good use.
The sky is the limit for Johnson as he continues to push himself. The desire to do better, to do more, will take him a long way.
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