Athletes around the world are in their final stages of training and qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - but in Richmond, B.C. a group of athletes gathered Saturday to set their sights on a different competition.

“My goal is 2020 Tokyo,” said Matthew Kehler, a 17-year-old sprint kayaker from Maple Ridge.

Kehler was one of 100 young athletes between the ages of 14 to 25 invited to participate in the first of four “RBC Training Ground” events that hope to identify some of Canada’s best young athletes and begin grooming them for future Olympic competition.

The goal of the program, according to RBC spokesman Matt McGlynn, is to identify “crossover athletes,” who may have reached their peak in popular team sports like hockey or soccer, but have the physical gifts to compete in other sports.

One such athlete is Hanna Nunn, who flew in with her mother from their hometown of Cardston, Alta., on Friday night.

“It's a once in a lifetime experience,” Nunn’s mother Kaylynn said when asked the motivation for making the journey. Nunn’s sports are rodeo and basketball, but she’s not sure what Olympic sport she’d be best suited for.

“Track and field would be my number one choice,” she said. “And then bobsledding or something like that.

As for Kehler, he said he’s happy in kayaking, but still curious what other opportunities might present themselves. If it meant a trip to the Olympics, he says he’d definitely be willing to switch sports.

“I’m here just to try and see what I’m compared to and see if there are any other sports for me,” Kehler said. “It would be probably one of the greatest feelings and accomplishments of my life, being an Olympian.”

At the end of the day, the top 10 athletes were singled out for recognition. Kieanna Stephens of Surrey won the top prize of funding for the duration of her athletic career. The hockey player has been told she may want to consider taking up rowing as well.

“I can’t even process it right now, I can’t believe it’s happening,” Stephens said. “It’s amazing… the more sports the better I guess.”

For other young Canadians dreaming of such an accomplishment, three more Training Ground events are planned - for Montreal, Toronto, and Halifax.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Sarah MacDonald