Video: New sprint star Brendon Rodney meets Karina LeBlanc

Sprinter Brendon Rodney emerged as one of the surprises of the Canadian track and field championships, becoming just the second Canadian male to cover the 200 metres in under 20 seconds when he clocked 19.96 in Edmonton. That was good enough to earn Rodney a spot on Canada's 65-strong athletics contingent for next month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

But as Yahoo Sports Canada's Olympic analyst Karina LeBlanc found out in a chat with Rodney on an airplane after the trials, he's been racing with a heavier load on the road to Rio, and the call he got from his mother at the finish line after beating Andre DeGrasse and the rest of the field in the 200 made the ticket to Brazil all the sweeter.