A 19-year-old Coquitlam figure skater is heading to South Korea to compete in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games thanks in part to the kindness of a total stranger overtaken by the Olympic spirit.
“I always thought about it,” Larkyn Austman said. “Yeah, I would like to go to the Olympics, but never really thought it would happen.”
Being a high-level athlete can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. After struggling to secure funding from more traditional sources, Austman turned to crowdfunding. The effort initially didn’t go as well as hoped, and last fall she found herself thousands of dollars short of her goal.
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Then out of the blue, an angel investor offered Austman the chance to be her best.
Horatio Kemeney kicked in $30,000, money that allowed Austman to train in Colorado, travel to competitions, purchase new equipment, and pay for ice time.
“My first inclination was to throw $100 at her and wish her good luck,” Kemeney said. “Then I started thinking, there’s only one way to do something: do it right.”
Austman was astounded by the offer of financial aid.
“Who in their free time looks to give away money to an amateur athlete?”
The support has meant the world to the Austman family.
“It takes a tremendous amount of stress out, to be honest,” father Leonard Austman said. “It’s a story… you can’t write this stuff. It’s crazy.”
Austman has one more block of training in Colorado before she leaves for Pyeongchang.
The fact that her dream of being an Olympian has come true hasn’t quite sunk in yet.