Raine Bradley had a standout season in discus, but this year exemplified what it means to be a versatile athlete. He made his mark at the regional, provincial, and national levels in discus, but hasn’t slowed down one bit since those spring and summer competitions.
The Chippewa Secondary School athlete brought home multiple medals from high-profile track and field events in 2024, cementing his place as one of the top young competitors in the sport.
The 16-year-old capped his impressive year by winning silver in the U16 discus event at the Legion National Track and Field Meet in Calgary.
Reflecting on the experience, Bradley says, “It was definitely a great experience. Calgary is amazing—beautiful sights and the chance to compete against the best in the country made it even better. The competition was tough, but it was super fun to watch others perform at such a high level, not just in discus but across all track and field events.”
See related: Discus star Bradley's stellar season is 2024 Sports Story of the Year
Preparation for the national competition began well before the first throw. “We arrived a couple of days early to adjust to the time change and get in some practice,” Bradley explains. “Good nutrition was key, so I made sure to eat well. During practice, I took things lightly to avoid overdoing it before the big day. But once the competition started, the adrenaline kicked in. Staying focused was important—I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. My goal was simple: go out there, perform well, and aim for a personal best.”
Bradley says competing at the national level was an eye-opening experience. “The intensity was on another level,” he says. “Everyone there was laser-focused on doing their best. It’s very different from NDA or NOSSA, where there’s more downtime between events. At nationals, the atmosphere was serious and intense.”
This year’s Paris 2024 Summer Olympics provided extra inspiration for Bradley. “I haven’t always followed the Olympics closely, but this year I spent a lot of time watching the track and field events,” he says. “Valarie Allman from the USA, who won Olympic gold in discus, was incredible. Watching her compete was amazing—her technique was so precise, and when something was even slightly off, you could really tell. It’s inspiring to see how they perform at that level.”
Bradley’s own accomplishments in 2024 showcased his potential to one day reach similar heights. He won gold in discus at the Ontario Summer Games in London and delivered a standout performance at the OFSAA Track and Field Championships, also in London. Competing on the province’s biggest stage, Bradley achieved a personal best throw of 51.22 metres, beating his nearest competitor by five metres. Notably, four of his six throws that day were far enough to secure the gold medal.
Earlier in the spring, Bradley earned the 2024 Fergie Dowdall Trophy as the top athlete at the NDA Track and Field Championship in his first year. He followed that up by breaking a long-standing NOSSA Novice discus record, previously set by Toronto Argonauts lineman and Algonquin alum Ryan Hunter, with a throw of 50.20 metres.
Despite his success in track and field, Bradley hasn’t slowed down during the winter season. A multi-sport athlete, he plays rep hockey with the North Bay U16 AA Trappers and was a member of the Chippewa Ravens high school football team this past fall.
“I’ve just kept playing sports the entire year,” Bradley said. “Even during track and field season, I played rep baseball as well. So there hasn’t really been this big transition for me to go from a high-level competition to not staying active. The training changes—going from working on techniques for a solo competition to going to a team practice for football for two hours where you’re running and hitting people. But I’ve just kept active, and I think that will help prepare me for the upcoming track and field season.”
Bradley’s first year of football was a success, and he embraced the challenge of learning a new sport alongside his friends. “We have a few guys in our friend group who played football for the Bulldogs, and we’d throw the ball around during lunch, so we all decided to sign up together,” he said. “I played tight end on offense, defensive end on defense, and I also ended up as the punter.”
In addition to football, Bradley represents Chippewa on the basketball and badminton teams, a source of pride for the versatile athlete. “It means a lot just to be able to have Chippewa known as a sports school,” he said. “Being able to start up the football team really meant a lot to a lot of students, and it just means a lot to be able to play these sports and represent the Ravens at all these competitions.”
Bradley’s reparations for track and field have started, getting time to work on his skills inside the Canadore Dome.
“The fact that we have the dome now means we will be able to keep up with all the kids down south. We can train now basically year-round. They have the facilities down south and now we have them here. If we didn't have it there’s nowhere, I could really throw. We could sort of work on techniques and weight training, but the dome makes that so much easier.”
Bradley says he’s focused on pushing the boundaries for himself this upcoming year.
“When I first started my goal was to hit 40 meters because that was the standard just to go to nationals. I was like, okay, you know what? This is going to be a fun year. I wanted to hit 40 meters and then I ended up doing that at my first meet. But the ceiling could be anywhere for me. Maybe the Olympics are in my future, but I know if I want it, I have to work for it and work hard for it.”
Bradley’s remarkable year was recently capped off by being selected as the BayToday 2024 Sports Story of the Year. The honour was determined through a combination of votes from BayToday staff, sports freelancers, and over 1,400 reader poll votes.
"Being selected as the 2024 sports story of the year is an amazing achievement even just being nominated is a great honour," he told BayToday.
"It means so much that North Bay recognized me as a candidate for the sport story of the year especially when my fellow nominees had such impressive seasons. Ryan Hunter chatted with me and gave me advice before I competed at OFSAA, so to be up against him was particularly special. It’s just an amazing feeling to see my hard work pay off, and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who voted for me and helped me throughout this year."
Looking ahead, Bradley says he is focused on pushing his limits and seeing how far his talent can take him.
