In 2008 in Beijing, China Josh Riker-Fox accomplished something no Canadian had done in 26 years — compete in the Summer Olympic Games in Modern Pentathlon.
At 24 the Delacour native was one of the youngest competitors in the event, finishing a very respectable 24th.
“You always want to finish in the medals, but you have to realize there’s a story line behind everyone who gets on the podium and I was one of the youngest athletes there,” said Riker-Fox, who was competing in the 2010 Canadian Modern Pentathlon championships in Red Deer during the weekend.
“The guys on the podium were between 29 and 35.”
Still Riker-Fox, who qualified for the Olympics by placing third in the 2007 Pan-Am Games, dreams every night of bringing home gold from the Olympics, but he may need a little more help financially.
“The biggest challenge is funding,” he said. “If the financial backing isn’t there and if Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic committee don’t step up for sports like mine it won’t happen. I know my friends have all graduated and are in the work force while I’m still incurring debts. I don’t receive a single dollar from the government or the Olympic committee. It will be a tough road ahead if that doesn’t change.”
Still he has his sights set on the 2012 Games in London, England.
“Being there is an incredible feeling, so totally unique which no amount of money can buy.”
Riker-Fox works as a personal trainer and as a motivational speaker, especially at businesses and schools, plus he’s a grad student at the University of Calgary.
The 26-year-old got into riding horses when he was growing up on a farm.
“As a young kid I started going to Calgary to train at a pentathlon club,” he explained. “Around 11 or 12 I became serious about the sport and at 18 I became way more serious about it. I decided that after all those years of thinking about taking part in the Olympics I needed to take bigger steps toward that goal and make a major commitment to it. So I guess it’s been just a normal progression for me.”
The stadium jumping portion of the sport — there’s also fencing, swimming and a run-and-shoot competition — is the most natural for Riker-Fox.
“Riding was my first sport, so I guess I’m a little stronger in that, but I still take my licks there as well,” he said.
“Really all the events were foreign to me when I got involved. But then that’s kind of the neat thing about the sport is the difference in all the events, whether it’s a mental or physical aspect.”
Riker-Fox is strong in all the events, although he struggled a bit with his shooting Saturday, which cost him top place among the men at the Canadians.
Junior athlete Christopher Pietruczuik of Port Coquitlam, B.C., accumulated the most points among the men, finishing with 5,574 with Riker-Fox, who was the top senior athlete, at 5,388.
“It’s exciting to see the younger talent coming up, but I still hate to lose,” said Riker-Fox with a smile. “But he shot extremely well and I didn’t.”
That was the only difference as Riker-Fox led after the fencing, swimming and riding.
He understands a top athlete has to be strong in all aspects of the sport.
“In swimming and running, you need to be fast. If you’re not you can’t win,” he said. “But then you need to be solid in the riding, fencing and shooting.”
Riding comes down to experience and being able to handle a horse you never saw before as competitors don’t ride their own horse, but rather draw their horses.
“You see the best riders will handle any horse they get, while the poorer riders will struggle most of the time,” said Riker-Fox, who rode clean Saturday.
Donna Marie Vakalis of Toronto won the senior women’s title with 5,169 points with Melanie McCann of Parkhill, Ont. taking second and also winning the junior women’s crown with 5,120 points.
Emily Caine of Red Deer captured the youth A women’s title with 2,015 points with Khendyl Gluck of Maple Ridge, B.C., with 1,081. Karis Langvand of Red Deer was third, although she only competed in the fencing where she accumulated 1,056 points, the second most among all the women.
Christie MacLennan of Oakville, Ont., won the youth B girls’ title with the youth C crown going to Kali Sayers of Calgary and youth D to 11-year-old Tamara Booy of Calgary.
The youth A boys’ title was won by Ricardo Sanchez of Calgary with the youth B crown going to John Paul Thompson of Erin, Ont. Quin LaGrange of Orangeville, Ont. took the youth C title.
Jane Rusconi of Maple Ridge won the master’s women’s division with Deb Langvand of Red Deer second. Langvand competed in only the swimming, which she bettered Rusconi in 1,034-914.
Bob Noble of Port Coquitlam won the master’s men’s crown with Red Deer’s David Coates, who didn’t compete in the riding, second.
There was a fun relay event held Sunday with 10 teams of three competing in the fencing, swimming and run-and-shoot. Caine was on the second-place team.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com