It was a memorable month of May for Prince Albert’s Storm Zablocki.
Zablocki was named the Sask Sport Athlete of the Month for May of 2023 after tying a U20 record in the 100m sprint at the Bob Vigars Classic in London, Ontario.
He says he is honored to receive provincial recognition.
“It means a lot just to show the support from the community and not just within Prince Albert, but within the province. It means a lot and I appreciate it just shows there’s that enormous amount of support but still a lot of work to be done.”
At the Bob Vigars Classic, Zablocki competed against athletes older than him and achieved a personal best that tied a record in the 100m sprint of 10.25 seconds. The record was originally set by Andre De Grasse, who was gone on to compete for Canada in multiple Olympics, including winning a bronze medal in the 100m in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Zablocki says it was bit of a shock to hear his name mentioned in the same conversation as De Grasse at first.
“It’s kind of surreal. Like for a few weeks there where I couldn’t really believe it and I wasn’t really conceptualizing it, but it’s starting to come around. I think now the biggest thing is making it that it’s just my name. We’re happy with what we’re doing right now in the season, but there’s still a lot of work to be done and a lot of achievements.”
After tying De Grasse’s record, Zablocki says it has provided him with a new perspective in attempting to reach his goal of becoming a Olympian.
“It’s always been my overall goal to one day compete in the Olympics to become a Canadian Olympian, but I think now more than ever, it’s become more of a real opportunity than it’s been in previous years. That’s definitely the route we’re trying to push for and that’s just what we want to see in the coming years, to be able to compete in Europe and compete in parts of the world where track is more supported and bigger level events.”
Zablocki is not the only member of his family to achieve success on the track recently. His younger sister, Stryker, medaled three times for Carlton at the SHSAA provincials in Saskatoon from Jun. 2-3.
Storm says there isn’t a huge sibling rivalry on the track due to Stryker’s prodigy status as a hockey player, but he loves to see her perform well.
“We’re pretty tame around it at home. There’s a pretty normal home life. She does hockey and she’s a big, big time hockey player and that’s kind of her outcome. And honestly, for her, track is a side sport and just complementary to her hockey. It’s been amazing for sure because I get to see my family succeed and I’m definitely proud of her.”
sports@paherald.sk.ca
