Swift Current's Carter Tuplin found the podium in Newfoundland.
It was a special 400m hurdles final in St. John's as two local athletes qualified for Friday's race.
Tuplin finished 3rd in Canada with a time of 53.97, while Swift Current's Rowan Reimer was 8th at 57.55 seconds. Both did it as recent high school graduates in a U24 competition.
"It feels awesome especially being from a small town like Swift Current," Tuplin said. "I would love to thank my family, coaches, and training partners as I would have never been able to do it without them. It’s amazing what we have made work with our limited facilities in town.
"However, the job is not finished as I look forward to the 4x400m relay."
Tuplin and Reimer are part of the 4x400m relay team that made it to the final of that event slated for Saturday evening.
"We went into that prelim just hoping to get fifth in our heat and getting a little (qualification) into the final," Tuplin said. "But we ended up getting third and a big Q, so that was huge. All of our team, even in the prelims, I think we all ran personal best splits, which was amazing, but hopefully we can just build on that and do it again here. It's going to be it's going to be a really windy day. So there's a chance that if we just keep our keep our heads on straight that we could pull away with something here and it would be really special."
Tuplin was able to score a personal best time in winning the bronze despite cold and windy conditions on Friday.
"I just made sure I was real warm before my race," he said. "I kept my layers on as long as I could. I visualized my race. I did a bunch of visualizing, probably visualized my race about 30 times before. I just made sure I was ready, my body was ready, and I just made sure the weather and everything going on wasn't affecting my mental capability. I just made sure I was locked in and that nothing was taking away from the ultimate goal."
That included a strategy that helped lead him to the podium.
"Me and my coach went over it before," Tuplin said. "I wanted to get out fast. I wanted to push off that first bend and relax into that back 200. And then, once I got to that 200 mark, I just wanted to, open my cadence up, open my stride up and make sure I'm hitting my stride pattern. And it all came together yesterday, and I hit my race perfectly. Pretty much as soon as I hit 75 meters to go, I knew it was going to happen. I just had to finish out that race strong and it was celebration from there. So, it was one of the greatest feelings I've ever had."
It was also special being able to stand alongside his Swift Current teammate Rowan Reimer as two of the eight qualifiers for the final.
"It feels awesome," Tuplin said. "Me and Rowan have been really good friends for a really long time now. We train together every day. We push each other and it's not always easy. We're always going really hard. It feels it feels awesome knowing that me and my teammate, we both we both made it there. We both we both got to experience that."
The bronze medalist had his family and support network there to support him in St. John's.
"Words can’t express how happy and proud we are of both Carter and Rowan," said Carter's mother and track coach Mandy Tuplin. "For Rowan to make the A final is a huge accomplishment. For Carter a bronze medal at Jeux du Canada Games is very impressive and a dream come true for him."
She noted the challenges Carter has overcome dividing his attention between two sporting passions.
"He is an athlete who has continued to pursue two sports, hockey and track, at a high level," Mandy Tuplin said. "He is such a hard worker who shows so much dedication and grit. He is a gamer who has the ability to show up and compete on race day. This is so well deserved! It is a personal best time."
After the Canada Summer Games are done, Tuplin heads to El Paso, Texas to play hockey in the NAHL.
Reimer will be competing in track and field at the University of Saskatchewan.
The bronze was a second local medal at the Canada Summer Games after Shaunavon's Mason Fauser won bronze with Team Saskatchewan in baseball.