Brooke and Rhett Bates have been mountain bike racing since they were eight years old. As siblings, the West Kelowna duo have had a first-row seat watching one another grow as athletes and as people.
And, later this month, they'll watch each other compete at the 2025 Canada Summer Games in St. John's, N.L.
Rhett, 18, and Brooke, 16, were selected to take on the Games as part of Team B.C. The four other athletes on B.C.'s mountain bike squad are from the same competitive team as Batese's, Charge BC-XC Racing, which Rhett described as the premier cross-country team in Western Canada.
That means there will be several familiar faces alongside the Bates siblings at the Games 香蕉视频直播� besides, of course, one another.
"It's cool (that) we know a bunch of the people that will be at the Summer Games," Rhett told West K News by phone alongside his sister.
Rhett said he was expecting a spot on Team B.C. after putting up a strong season in which he raced a lot and had some "pretty good" results at the selection races. A few weeks ago, he placed 10th at the U23 national championships, where he competed against racers as much as five years his senior.
For Brooke, getting the nod by Team B.C. came more of a surprise. She missed significant racing time with a broken clavicle she sustained in a provincial race in Powell River early in the season. She'd crashed her bike over a berm at the high school event and waited 11 days before surgery. Though she trained hard post-op, she'd missed three qualifying events by the time she'd recovered. She had to get a medical exemption just to qualify for the Games.
Clearly, the selection committee wanted her on the team badly, as she cracked the roster despite the missed time and events.
"I wasn't really expecting to get the spot, so I'm really excited to just get to go and represent the team," Brooke said.
On top of a love of being on a bike, the pair have a competitive edge that's kept them in the sport at a high level since their dad first got them into mountain biking.
"I like to do well, I like to compete," Rhett said.
Yet, the Bateses say they aren't very competitive with one another, which owes to the fact that they race in different age and gender categories. Instead, they cheer each other on and spend a lot of time training together.
Their favourite spot to train over the years has been the Rose Valley mountain biking trails near their home, but those trails have been closed since the wildfires of 2023. These days, their go-to spot is the trails at West Kelowna's Smith Creek.
"Great trails, it's just a bit farther away," said Brooke.
Aside from competing, Brooke said the thing that most excites her about going to the Games is "getting to see other people's sports and everyone else compete in the sports they like."
Rhett has his sights set on winning.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to go race there and try to get myself on the podium," he said.
Both agree it will be nice to see each other compete 香蕉视频直播� though it's nothing new; they've been doing that regularly for the last eight years.
"We get to travel to races together often, so it should be pretty normal for us," Rhett said.
At the Games, the siblings will be competing in cross-country Olympic racing on Aug. 20, relay races on Aug. 22, and cross-country short track on Aug. 24. Brooke excels at the longer endurance races, so she's pumped for the cross-country Olympic event. She had a stellar sixth-place finish at one such race down in California in March. Rhett is ready for any race length, saying he's had some good short track results, "but with how the XC course is looking there it should be pretty good as well for me."
Both said their enrolment in Canadian Sport School Kelowna and their instructor, Nate Reiter, have been integral to their athletic success. The Grade 10-12 school is designed to support high-performance athletes in navigating sports and academics.
The Canada Summer Games started Aug. 8 and will run until Aug. 25, with 19 sports featured.
