She’s a 13 year-old already in the fast lane to success.
Raiya Matonovich from the Kamloops Track and Field Club is posting some world class times in the 800 and 1500 metre events.
“[She] ran the 800m on Thursday evening in 2:10.78. This is by far the fastest time for a girl her age in all of North America this year and second fastest in the world,” a post from Coach Sean Lehmann said this week. “She was less than a second from breaking the Provincial U16 record set in 1995 by Malindi Elmore, an Olympian and current Canadian record holder.”
“Last week, Raiya ran a 4:32.41 1500m, also the best in North America this year and third best in the world.”
Matonovich’s parents, John and Sukh, have an athletic background, playing soccer at the university and college level. Raiya says it was her mom who got her into the world of athletics.
“My mom used to take me out to Kenna when I was five, but she was faster than me and she pushed me to go faster. Ever since I was little I had the resiliency to do that,” she told NL Sports. “My sister is also a huge role model. She pushes me to go that extra mile.”
The U-18 Canadian record in the 800m event is 2:03.58 set by Victoria Tachinski in 2016. Raiya is only seven seconds off that mark, but she knows her times could get right up there with the Canadian record holder Melissa Bishop who ran the 800m in 1:57.01 back in 2017.
“That’s a huge shock for me. I’ve seen Melissa and all these professional runner athletes and she’s a huge role model for me. I hope I can continue to take seconds off my time so I can be at the world class level one day,” Raiya added.
Matonovich took up track and field in grade six and knows she has more to give.
“I have a lot of goals for now and the future… my ultimate, ultimate goal is to be in the Olympics one day, and hopefully set a World Record,” she said.
Matonovich told NL Sports she is well aware of the Olympians that Kamloops has had. A visit recently from two-time Olympian Gary Reed to run their practice had her raving.
“I think it’s great to have world class athletes in our community so they can give some experiences of what it’s like,” she said.
