Langley athlete hoping to spin NCAA gold into Olympic team selection

One hundred and twenty seven.

It's the number that drives Langley's Georgia Ellenwood every day.

The Canadian and NCAA heptathlon champion is only that far away — 127 points — from taking the next step in an already notable career by qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"It's very realist," explained the 23-year-old. "My best score is 6173 and they just raised the Olympic standard to 6300."

"That's a couple of centimetres in long jump, a couple of centimetres in shot put, maybe three centimetres in high jump... just a little bit [of improvement] in each event."

The heptathlon consists of seven different track and field disciplines — 100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metre sprint, long jump, javelin and 800 metre run.

Results from each event are converted into points using a formula. The competitor with the most points at the end of the two days of competition is crowned the winner.

Triple threat talent

To the uninitiated, heptathlon might seem suitable only for the hardest-of-hardcore athlete who exhibits signs of ADHD and a knack for math.

But in the track world, it is the true test of all-around athletic superiority.

"When I was younger, I just followed my older brother around doing everything that he did and he did a bunch of different sports.," said Ellenwood.

"When he signed up for track and field, I was like 'sweet, I've never done this before.' But when I started getting older ... I realized that maybe I could take this little bit further."

Further meant turning a promising high school career with the Langley Mustangs Track and Field Club into a full-ride scholarship at the University of Wisconsin. That's where Ellenwoods trifecta of talents — the ability to run, jump and throw — really blossomed.

Winning streak

Earlier this year, she capped off her collegiate career in style, winning the NCAA heptathlon title. She then captured the gold medal at the Pan American Cup before moving on to winning her first senior Canadian title.

The next hurdle, however, isn't on the track. It's in the business world where Ellenwood is trying to navigate the transition from American university star to full time Canadian professional.

"I've had so much exposure in the U.S. from being in the NCAA so it's hard to gain that same exposure in your own country, especially, when you've been representing an American school for that long," she said. "But now it's my job to kind of come back home and get to know my own city."

To help with the repatriation, Ellenwood is spending an extended Christmas back at home in Langley, while teaming up with a Canadian agent to explore sponsorship opportunities to fund the Olympic dream.

Big in the U.S.

She says there's interest from a few companies but only after a solid sales pitch and a little explaining.

"I assumed because the NCAA is so big in the U.S. that it's big everywhere, but a lot of people don't watch it in Canada. So I come back and people are like, 'what does NCAA stand for' and I'm like wait, do I even know?"

"It's kind of funny," she laughed.

In January, Ellenwood returns to Wisconsin and her training partnership with coach Nate Davis and top U.S. male decathlete Zach Ziemek .

The mindset will be to leave no stone unturned in finding a way to earn the elusive 127 points and a place on the Canadian Olympic team.

"This upcoming season is the most important season I've ever experienced, so it's interesting going through the transition from NCAA to pro athlete at this time," she said. "But everything is going well so far."