You may not realize it, but Burnaby is an underrated hotspot for athletic talent. Not just one star. Not just one generation. It’s a pipeline.
Most people know Christine Sinclair. She’s arguably the greatest Canadian soccer player ever, an Olympic gold medalist, and a global icon.
But Burnaby’s story doesn’t stop with Sinclair. Let’s take a look at some of the Olympians out of Burnaby that get lost in the fold.
Ryan Decenzo
Ryan Decenzo grew up skateboarding around Burnaby and the Lower Mainland. Before boarding became an Olympic sport, Decenzo was already making a name for himself the old-school way. Filming and posting videos, landing tricks, and building credibility and recognition in the global skate scene.
By the late 2000s, he had X Games medals, sponsorships, and a reputation as one of Canada’s best street skaters.
The kicker is Decenzo never had his eyes set on Olympic competition. But when skateboarding was added to the Olympic program in Tokyo 2020, of course he jumped at the chance to compete.
However, he needed to adapt some of his style. The clash between skater vibes and polished Olympic structure was there. But it didn’t matter.
By the time he reached the Olympic stage, he wasn’t just representing Canada; he was representing a whole generation of skateboarders who came up before it was on the international stage. Decenzo was engrained in the culture.
Pretty cool to say you were one of the first to represent skateboarding at the Olympic games.
Lindsey Butterworth
Coming out of SFU like fellow Canadian Olympian Justina Di Stasio, Butterworth had her sight set on running in track and field.
While enrolled at SFU, Butterworth became one of the top middle-distance runners in Canada, specializing in the 800m. Which is notorious for being one of the most mentally demanding events in track.
Her route was structured and disciplined. It wasn’t about exploding onto the scene. Instead, she built her career year by year, shaving seconds off her time and learning how to race smarter. Putting in hours of sweat, shoes pounding the track, and making sacrifices to accomplish her dreams.
By the time she qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, she had become not only a national champion, but proof that putting in the hours while in a local system can pay off if done right.
Trevor Hofbauer
If there’s one story that feels the most relatable, it’s Trevor Hofbauer’s. The blue-collar Olympian, if you will.
Hofbauer’s rise came through distance running. This is among the least glamorous, most grind-heavy discipline in athletics. It’s not flashy stuff.
Training for a marathon means running massive mileage every week which can drain a person. They’re long, lonely, and for not much payoff. Only incremental progress by shaving a couple minutes off your run is the biggest dopamine hit you’ll get out of long-distance training.
Paint a picture. Its a lonely rainy morning in November and you have to run a marathon amount of distance for training. Hoping to cut two minutes off your last time. It’s cold, wet, your calist feet slapping against the wet pavement. That would be enough to make any less obsessed person walk away from the sport. But not Trevor.
Hofbauer’s breakthrough came when he won the Canadian Marathon Championships, putting himself on the map and earning a spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Finally, having a stage for people to recognize all his grind and efforts.
These three athletes couldn’t be more different, a skateboarder from street culture, a university-developed middle-distance runner, and a self-made marathon grinder. And yet, they all came from the same place.
That’s what makes Burnaby so special. It’s not about producing Olympians or professional athletes. It’s having the environment that makes that opportunity possible. And we take that for granted, cause most people don’t have it.
It means that kids and teens have access to the same places as these Olympians do. It’s the same tracks, parks, rinks, and community you drive past every day. We get to live in it. How special is that?