Sometimes, mom really does know best.
For as much as Jesse Plante had shown signs of innate natural athleticism as a child and throughout his elementary years at École publique Jean-Éthier Blais (notably in track and field and soccer), he also displayed little if any inkling in wanting to pursue any particular sport at any kind of a semi-serious level.
“Mom kept telling me to join sports,” Plante said. “You have so much potential, she would say. But I wouldn’t. I just never did.”
Even as the now 18-year-old completed his high school years at École secondaire Macdonald-Cartier, his sporting interest stalled almost completely during the COVD-19 pandemic and beyond; he still was more drawn far more by the competition element than the workouts.
“If I am being completely honest, before this, I never trained for a sport – not even the long jump,” said Plante. Ah yes – that would be the long jump where the gifted young athlete would capture gold at a city level with a leap of 6.02 metres back in May.
“I did some run ups on the day of the cities (city finals),” he noted with a laugh. “I wasn’t interested in going to a practice – but I’ll go to a meet.”
Thankfully, his mother, Desirée Lafontaine, got tired of waiting for her son to take the initiative.
“She actually signed me up for RBC Training Ground without asking me,” Plante said.
Thank goodness for that.
In March, Plante scored among the leaders at the initial phase of the RBC process in Sudbury – a good showing, certainly, but not the stuff that Olympic dreams are made of given the fact that there is a whole wide world of talented teens spread out all over Ontario – and well beyond.
“The next camp was in Toronto and I thought: I can drive there and it will be fun.”
Again, Plante was ranked right up near the top of his peer group – much to his surprise.
“When I placed well there, I thought that maybe, if I actually trained, I could have potential in sport,” he said. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t alone in this thinking.
The RBC Training Ground was designed as a means for sports that fly typically under the radar – well under in some cases – to identify young athletes who might be predisposed for success in their given field of play.
Though Plante received calls or emails from several groups, it was Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton that caught his attention. “On the ride back from Toronto, my mom and I came to the conclusion that this is an amazing opportunity.”
In September, he would leave for Calgary and, more specifically, the Ice House at Winsport Olympic Park, looking to gauge exactly where he fit in given that he had already earned a spot among the top 100 RBC Training Ground competitors in the country, a collection of hopefuls that will gather in Halifax on Nov. 2, with 30 moving on to having their training costs covered by the event sponsors.
So far, so good for the young man from Sudbury.
“There were 35 of us in this group in July – and then it dropped to 15,” he said. “In September, we were nine. Skeleton is not for everybody. When you look at the videos of the sport of skeleton, it’s a little intimidating. It’s cool, but it’s also intimidating.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the sport, there’s a reason Plante calls it “intimidating”. In skeleton bobsled, competitors fly down an ice track on a small, single-person sled. The rub is, the athlete lies face down on their stomach and goes down the track head first.
More encouraging than overcoming the mental hurdles, however, is the fact that Plante has continued to shine in the all-important physical standards testing. “Right now, we’re just working the blocks and our start and getting the perfect load on to the sled.”
And as anyone who has even tuned in for a brief period of time when the Olympic skeleton runs are televised well knows, the start can be the difference between a podium finish and being in the middle of the pack.
“There is a men’s push threshold of 4.80 seconds, part of the standard to become a carded athlete,” said Plante. “My best push so far is 4.87 seconds.”
This despite the fact that he is currently nursing a bit of a quad injury, with coaches and athletes alike encouraged by the potential that apparently lies within. “I was the first athlete from RBC this year to push under five seconds,” Plante said.
All of which gives way to a mid-November camp in Whistler and the next phase of trying to determine whether the northern product might actually have the stuff that Olympic dreams are made of.
“Our first week there is a progression camp: we start at the lowest corner, get the feel of it and slowly start to make our way up the course,” offered Plante. “It takes a while to get to the top of Whistler. It’s the most technical track in the world.”
Following that camp, Plante will return home to spend some holiday time with family.
“We’ll see where things go and just focus on training right now.”
And maybe, just maybe, pick up a very special thank you card for his mother along the way. She clearly deserves it.
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
