Gilmore Junio wants speed skating career to be defined by more than personal success
CBC
As Gilmore Junio attempts to reach his third consecutive Olympics, some things haven't changed.
"My whole career, it's always been motivated with trying to create moments that Canada can celebrate and be proud of — not only what I do on the ice, but what I do off of it. So hopefully I have a couple more of those moments in the back pocket," Junio told CBC Sports recently.
The 31-year-old long-track speed skater burst onto the scene at the 2014 Sochi Olympics for one of those off-ice moments, when he gave his spot in the 1,000-metre race to teammate Denny Morrison, who'd failed to qualify after a fall in trials.
Morrison wound up with a silver medal.
Nearly eight years later, Junio remains mindful of targets beyond personal success.
"I've been on the national team now for 11 years, and there's no reason why another Filipino kid shouldn't be able to come up and be inspired and push towards being on the national team," Junio said.
Junio said he reconsidered his role with the team during the pandemic, concluding that he could be an inspiration for Asian children who may never have heard of speed skating.
"And it doesn't have be speed skating. I'm just speaking to the broad sense of getting more diversity to all the national teams and across all sports," Junio said.
The Calgary native, whose parents are both from the Philippines, said he hoped to reach the Filipino community in his hometown specifically. As of 2016, Alberta was home to a greater percentage of the Canadian Filipino community than any province besides Ontario.
The alleged inhumane treatment of ethnic minorities by 2022 Olympic host China has led to calls from human-rights groups for a full boycott of the Winter Games.
Canada announced Wednesday it would follow in the American approach.
"It's definitely a big concern but that's something that, it's tough," Junio said.
"When I was first learning about the Olympics, the Olympics were about peace and bringing nations together. … And that's something I've held on to and that's the romanticism of the Olympics is that everyone's coming together."
It was chance that led Junio to begin his Olympic journey, after his dad saw a TV ad for a speed skating identification camp when he was 13.
