Chapter Overview:

0:00 Intro
0:10 Background and Early Days in Track
0:24 Transition from Soccer to Track
0:46 Joining LPS Athletic
1:02 Thoughts on the LPS Environment
1:35 Improvements in Performance
1:58 Experience with LPS Staff
2:15 Overcoming Injuries
2:40 Sacrifices and Lifestyle
3:03 Motivation and Support from Family
3:23 Competitive Drive and Goals
3:49 Memorable Moments in Track
4:07 Inspiration from Younger Brother
4:21 Contribution to the Sport
4:41 What DOMINATE Means to Ashvin
5:05 Aspirations as an Athlete
5:28 Balancing School and Track

Track & Field High Jump Workout Experience with Ashvin Balaramana

My name is Ashvin Balaramana. I’m the Outdoor National Champ, Offset Champ, Provincial Champ, U20 Champ, Open Champ, basically every champ. I’m the best high jumper in the country, and I compete in Ontario. The earliest memory I have of joining track and field was probably at eight years old. I was a pretty tall kid, and my family members pushed me to join it, being that tall.

I used to play soccer until I was 14. What made the big switch was noticing I was winning and had a future in the sport. Prior to LPS, it was purely raw talent. I was jumping probably four times a week. Other than that, I was just resting, sitting at home, doing none. The way I heard about LPS was through the radio. My dad made some calls, got me in the gym for the first time to do some tests, and it was very scary. Seeing everybody here was so big and like, D’s and stuff. It’s very intimidating coming here for the first time. My thoughts on the environment now, it’s a lot better than when I was younger. Seeing everybody work hard makes you want to work hard too. Everybody’s pushing each other, cheering for each other. Everybody’s yelling all the time.

I’ve been at LPS for five off-seasons, and the culture here is just different. Everybody’s working hard. They’re pushing you. It’s not like a commercial gym. You have trainers here that want to see the best for you and keep pushing you. If they see you slacking, you won’t hear the end of it. Some of the things I’ve noticed are raw power is through the roof, my vertical speed, and especially strength. I was very weak as a kid, very scrawny. Getting bigger and stronger really helped with my event. My experiences with the LPS staff are they really want to build a bond with you. They want to see the best for you. At a commercial gym, you’ll have a PT there who’ll just tell you to do the sets and reps to lose weight. But here at LPS, they want you to be great and do something with your life.

I’ve had a lot of injuries, probably since I was in the 8th grade until the 11th. It was just me being weak. Coming to LPS, I got a lot bigger, a lot stronger. I noticed a difference, and I stopped getting hurt frequently. I really haven’t made any sacrifices. I’ve been doing this since I was young; it’s just my lifestyle. Maybe going out with friends, seeing family for birthdays and stuff like that, but I don’t really care about that. I want to win.

My dad drives me around everywhere, takes me to every doctor, every coach. He wants to see the best for me, and bringing him those medals, you can see he’s proud. Having my dad so invested in my sport drives me to a certain extent, but honestly, it doesn’t drive me enough. I want to be the greatest ever. That’s what drives me. The way I enter every meet is, don’t lose. But I’m kind of used to that. The one thing that drives me during competition and practice is everybody else in the world. I’m not going to race the best every day, but I’m trying to be the best.

I wanted to quit around 12 years old. I really wanted to pursue soccer; that was my number one passion. But seeing me break records, win medals, drove me in the right direction of pursuing track. One of the most memorable moments I hold close to my heart is winning nationals in the high jump with no family there, no coaches, just me and my brother in Quebec. Seeing my little brother jump with me, I can tell he’s a lot better than I was at a younger age. Seeing him do that makes me want to be better right now, so he can’t catch up to me. I need to keep that space between us.

Everybody’s always in my ear, saying he’s going to be better than you, taller than you, stronger than you. No, he’s not. I’ll always be better. I have the record right now, but I know he’ll beat that. I need to lock that up. Nobody’s breaking that. One way I want to contribute to my sport is to show other people they can do it too. You’ll never see another brown person in track. I want to show them they can do it. Just because there’s nobody else, why can’t you be the first?

What DOMINATE means to me is to not lose. Don’t let anybody beat you. Stay on top while you’re on top, and if you’re at the bottom, get to the top. Some of my aspirations as an athlete are to join Team Canada in the U20 World Championships and hopefully join a big D1 school in September. These are all steppingstones to becoming the greatest ever. Something I wish I could tell a younger athlete is, if you want to be the best, you have to train now. You have to get ahead of everyone else and stay ahead of everyone else.

One of the hardest things about balancing school and track is going home at 10 o’clock and then maybe having a test in the first period. It’s the studying, getting through the homework, but I have a lot of teachers that help me through that. Seeing how everybody else is still doing school and managing sports, I want to do that too.

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