{
    "title": "Building Champions: Ryder Rattee's incredible journey to the top of the podium",
    "modified_at": "2026-05-22 09:48:34",
    "published_at": "2026-05-22 09:00:00",
    "url": "https://canada-west.prezly.com/building-champions-spotlight-ryder-rattees-inspiring-path-to-the-top-of-the-podium",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/FTDd",
    "culture": "en_GB",
    "language": "EN",
    "subtitle": "After overcoming significant health challenges early in life, the Alberta sprinter produced one of the most dominant seasons in U SPORTS history - and he's only getting started. ",
    "slug": "building-champions-spotlight-ryder-rattees-inspiring-path-to-the-top-of-the-podium",
    "body": "<p><em>Article by Connor Hood, special to CW </em></p><p>May 22, 2026 - A hush fell over the crowd as the athletes walked up to the starting line. It was a race you didn&rsquo;t want to miss. Hype, anticipation, and anxious energy could be felt across the building. </p><p>One of the marquee events of the U SPORTS Track &amp; Field Championships, you knew all eyes in the building were on those about to run in the men&#039;s 600m. </p><p>The next 75 seconds would see six of the fastest athletes in Canada push as hard as they possibly could, ignore the pain building as lactic acid built up in their legs, and use every ounce of energy, preparation and training from the last 12 months all in the hopes of becoming a national champion.</p><p>For many, sprinting three laps of an indoor track would seem completely daunting and exhausting. For sophomore Golden Bear Ryder Rattee, it was exactly where he was meant to be. Having spent over two years as a kid battling cancer, facing weekly chemotherapy treatments, nauseating medicine, and bone marrow aspirations, the race felt like a breeze compared to what he had gone through to that point.</p><p>To then blow the field out of the water, shatter the Golden Bears program record in the event, and earn the second of his three U SPORTS gold medals over the weekend &mdash; perhaps the race was a breeze after all for the U of A star sprinter.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a competitor. Sports is always where my heart has been. No matter what, I was going to pursue sport,&rdquo; said Rattee, who was just named the recipient of the 2026 Doug Mitchell Trophy as <a href=\"https://en.usports.ca/awards/2025-26/Releases/AOTY2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Year</a> last Wednesday in Calgary. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m ever not confident or need a boost before a race, I can always remind myself that I&rsquo;ve done harder things than had lactic acid in my legs for a couple minutes.&rdquo;</p>\n    <figure\n        class=\"release-content-image release-content-image--contained release-content-image--align-center\"\n        data-component=\"image-zoom-popup\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-selector=\".release-content-image__image\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-i18n=\"data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0=\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-views-event=\"Story Image View\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event=\"Story Image Download\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-placement=\"content\"\n    >\n        <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover\" style=\"width: 100%\">\n            <img\n                src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/371e44bc-ff9f-4321-bcf5-d813e0bee60f/-/crop/2276x1420/43,247/-/preview/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                                class=\"release-content-image__image image-thumbnail-rollover__image\"\n                data-description=\"Photo by University of Manitoba Athletics \"\n                id=\"image-371e44bc-ff9f-4321-bcf5-d813e0bee60f\"\n                data-id=\"371e44bc-ff9f-4321-bcf5-d813e0bee60f\"\n                data-original=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/371e44bc-ff9f-4321-bcf5-d813e0bee60f/-/crop/2276x1420/43,247/-/preview/-/inline/no/TF_Nationals-2862.jpg\"\n                data-mfp-src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/371e44bc-ff9f-4321-bcf5-d813e0bee60f/-/crop/2276x1420/43,247/-/preview/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                alt=\"Photo by University of Manitoba Athletics \"\n            />\n            <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover__caption\">\n                <svg class=\"icon icon-expand image-thumbnail-rollover__caption-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-expand\"></use>\n            </svg>            </div>\n        </div>\n\n        <figcaption class=\"release-content-image__caption\">Photo by University of Manitoba Athletics </figcaption>\n    </figure>\n<hr /><h4 id=\"never-sidelined-despite-the-odds\" ><strong>Never sidelined, despite the odds</strong></h4><p>Life can come at you fast. As an eight-year old in the summer of 2015, a marble-sized bump was found on Rattee&rsquo;s neck. What followed over the next two years was nothing short of unbearable. The first two months of treatment included weekly chemotherapy sessions, bone marrow aspirations that required Rattee to be put under anesthetic, and a drug called prednisone, which was so disgusting and nauseating that he needed a slurpee or ice cream to just get it down.</p><p>After eight weeks, he was in remission, thinking the hard part was over. However it wasn&rsquo;t two months before more lumps were found on his groin, which was followed by 16 more months of treatment, anguish, stress, uncertainty, and questioning of diagnoses.</p><p>&ldquo;Honestly, the hardest part was seeing my parents go through it. For me, it didn&rsquo;t fully register what was happening at the time, but watching them deal with it made it real. Just seeing their stress, taking time off work, everything they had to handle, especially since I wasn&rsquo;t independent with things like doctor&rsquo;s appointments or even getting around, it all really affected me.&rdquo;</p>\n    <figure\n        class=\"release-content-image release-content-image--contained release-content-image--align-center\"\n        data-component=\"image-zoom-popup\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-selector=\".release-content-image__image\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-i18n=\"data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0=\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-views-event=\"Story Image View\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event=\"Story Image Download\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-placement=\"content\"\n    >\n        <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover\" style=\"width: 100%\">\n            <img\n                src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                                    srcset=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/ 1x, https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee/-/resize/2400x/-/format/auto/ 2x\"\n                                class=\"release-content-image__image image-thumbnail-rollover__image\"\n                data-description=\"\"\n                id=\"image-21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee\"\n                data-id=\"21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee\"\n                data-original=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee/-/inline/no/Rattee.jpg\"\n                data-mfp-src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/21fb9b55-7606-4304-a42f-3e6961df46ee/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                alt=\"Story image\"\n            />\n            <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover__caption\">\n                <svg class=\"icon icon-expand image-thumbnail-rollover__caption-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-expand\"></use>\n            </svg>            </div>\n        </div>\n\n        <figcaption class=\"release-content-image__caption\"></figcaption>\n    </figure>\n<p>Every second of the process however, Rattee&rsquo;s focus remained on getting back to sport. Soccer, track, volleyball, anything; he was obsessed with getting back into the action. Nothing shows this more than Rattee coming off the bench for the second half of his U9 soccer match, just four days following the procedure to remove the lump from his neck.</p><p>&ldquo;My desire to play sports brought me out of my shell quickly. I was so young, it was hard to really comprehend everything that was happening, so my focus was sports. I didn&#039;t really want to be known as the kid with cancer.&rdquo;</p><p>A third time having a growth triggered larger questions from Rattee and his family. They soon discovered that the original diagnosis was wrong, and he has either primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma or lymphomatoid papulosis, both of which are extremely rare among children.</p><p>In yet another remarkable twist to the story, the new diagnosis revealed his growths were benign; he&rsquo;s technically an active cancer patient who never needed chemo and lives hoping nothing shows up.</p>\n    <figure\n        class=\"release-content-image release-content-image--contained release-content-image--align-center\"\n        data-component=\"image-zoom-popup\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-selector=\".release-content-image__image\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-i18n=\"data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0=\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-views-event=\"Story Image View\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event=\"Story Image Download\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-placement=\"content\"\n    >\n        <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover\" style=\"width: 100%\">\n            <img\n                src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510/-/crop/4072x2836/0,416/-/preview/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                                    srcset=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510/-/crop/4072x2836/0,416/-/preview/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/ 1x, https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510/-/crop/4072x2836/0,416/-/preview/-/resize/2400x/-/format/auto/ 2x\"\n                                class=\"release-content-image__image image-thumbnail-rollover__image\"\n                data-description=\"\"\n                id=\"image-78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510\"\n                data-id=\"78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510\"\n                data-original=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510/-/crop/4072x2836/0,416/-/preview/-/inline/no/DSC00143.jpg\"\n                data-mfp-src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/78d7f89b-8807-4033-81d5-ffd028782510/-/crop/4072x2836/0,416/-/preview/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                alt=\"Story image\"\n            />\n            <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover__caption\">\n                <svg class=\"icon icon-expand image-thumbnail-rollover__caption-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-expand\"></use>\n            </svg>            </div>\n        </div>\n\n        <figcaption class=\"release-content-image__caption\"></figcaption>\n    </figure>\n<hr /><h4 id=\"records-fall-a-star-rises\" ><strong>Records fall, a star rises</strong></h4><p>Spend any time with Rattee or watch his brilliance on the track, and a few things stand out immediately; his drive, motivation, and pursuit of excellence. They are attributes you see across Canada West schools, programs, and sports. It&rsquo;s what separates the conference from the rest; an unmatched ability to build and develop champion student-athletes. </p><p>The best way to see this play out in real time? The 2026 U SPORTS Championships in Winnipeg. Rattee joined the exclusive triple-gold club, winning the 300m, 600m, and 4x400m races for the Golden Bears, who finished just four points shy of capturing their first national title since 2001.</p><p>All three races saw Rattee set Golden Bears program records, with his 300m time of 32.75s breaking the U SPORTS Championship record, culminating in the sophomore Bear being named Championship Athlete of the Meet.</p><p>There was really only one word to describe his championship performance; breathtaking. </p><p>&ldquo;Ryder is a great person and someone all of Edmonton should be proud of. To be exemplary it&#039;s not just about being extraordinary in ordinary conditions, but being extraordinary in difficult conditions. This is Ryder,&rdquo; said Golden Bears and Pandas Track &amp; Field head coach Wes Moerman. &ldquo;He has the passion, humility and perspective to do this. Ryder&#039;s season &mdash; and especially his performance at the U SPORTS championship in Winnipeg &mdash; was truly remarkable with extraordinary results. He is a pleasure to work with and an inspiration for us all.&rdquo;</p><p>Add in the fact that Rattee was also dealing with a nagging back injury all season, it made his collection of performances in 2025-26 even more remarkable. Two conference gold medals, earning Canada West Male Track Athlete of the Year, and subsequently the U of A Male Athlete of the Year. Rattee went undefeated in all individual races in 2026, capping off his season by being named both Canada West Male Athlete of the Year and U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Year - an unprecedented achievement for a second year student-athlete. </p>\n    <figure\n        class=\"release-content-image release-content-image--contained release-content-image--align-center\"\n        data-component=\"image-zoom-popup\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-selector=\".release-content-image__image\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-i18n=\"data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0=\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-views-event=\"Story Image View\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event=\"Story Image Download\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-placement=\"content\"\n    >\n        <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover\" style=\"width: 100%\">\n            <img\n                src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                                    srcset=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/ 1x, https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118/-/resize/2400x/-/format/auto/ 2x\"\n                                class=\"release-content-image__image image-thumbnail-rollover__image\"\n                data-description=\"The University of Alberta swept the 2026 Lois and Doug Mitchell Awards, with Abby Guezen (Pandas WVB) joining Ryder in being named U SPORTS Athletes of the Year. Photo by Richard Coffey.\"\n                id=\"image-c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118\"\n                data-id=\"c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118\"\n                data-original=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118/-/inline/no/IMG_1356.jpg\"\n                data-mfp-src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/c24efa9a-1d0d-4401-9882-0adea8d4d118/-/resize/1200x/-/format/auto/\"\n                alt=\"The University of Alberta swept the 2026 Lois and Doug Mitchell Awards, with Abby Guezen (Pandas WVB) joining Ryder in being named U SPORTS Athletes of the Year. Photo by Richard Coffey.\"\n            />\n            <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover__caption\">\n                <svg class=\"icon icon-expand image-thumbnail-rollover__caption-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-expand\"></use>\n            </svg>            </div>\n        </div>\n\n        <figcaption class=\"release-content-image__caption\">The University of Alberta swept the 2026 Lois and Doug Mitchell Awards, with Abby Guezen (Pandas WVB) joining Ryder in being named U SPORTS Athletes of the Year. Photo by Richard Coffey.</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n<p>&ldquo;Honestly in my individual races at nationals, it was more a sense of relief. I&rsquo;ve been very vocal about where my goals were, even if I didn&rsquo;t feel fully healthy all season. And to end it all with the 4x400m win, it was just a euphoric feeling. I just knew we were going to hit that final stretch hard and everyone was going to be feeling good.&rdquo; </p><p>Considering Rattee didn&rsquo;t fully commit to track until Grade 11, the sky seems to be the limit for the young Golden Bear. In early May, he represented Canada for the first time at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana in the mixed 4x400m. Later this summer he will compete at the Canadian Track &amp; Field Championships in Ottawa, then it&#039;s on to the <a href=\"https://athletics.ca/blog/2026/05/21/team-canada-named-for-first-ever-pan-american-senior-athletics-championships/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 Pan American Senior Athletics Championships</a> from June 26 to 28 in Medellin, Colombia.</p><p>At this point, even the loftiest of goals Rattee has for himself, which include LA 2028, don&rsquo;t seem out of reach, considering what he has overcome to this point.</p><p>&ldquo;As I have learned and witnessed over the last couple years,&rdquo; said Moerman, &ldquo;you never count Ryder out. Ever.&rdquo;</p><hr /><p><em><strong>Canada West - Building Champions Since 1919 </strong></em></p><p>In Canada West, excellence isn&rsquo;t a trend. <strong>It&rsquo;s a tradition. </strong></p><p>With roots dating back to 1919, we&rsquo;ve spent generations developing leaders in sport and beyond. Today, our student-athletes are continuing that legacy - pushing boundaries in competition, excelling in the classroom, and going on to lead in their professions and communities. </p><p>Across 18 schools and four provinces, our student-athletes chase greatness, backed by elite coaches, premier facilities, passionate fans, and the best student-athlete experience in Canadian university sport.</p><p>In the west, our student-athletes rise. On the field, in the classroom, and in life.</p><p>This isn&rsquo;t just where greatness begins. <strong>It&rsquo;s where champions are made.</strong></p>",
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            "caption": "The University of Alberta swept the 2026 Lois and Doug Mitchell Awards, with Abby Guezen (Pandas WVB) joining Ryder in being named U SPORTS Athletes of the Year. Photo by Richard Coffey.",
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