In July, five members of the Bisons track and field team will take to Germany for the FISU World University Games. Over the next six weeks, Bison Sports will cover their journey and memories and moments that matter to them. This week's feature is on Daxx Turner.

At the University of Manitoba, what triple jumper Daxx Turner has accomplished is the stuff of legend.
 
The senior from Neepawa, Manitoba has re-written the school's record book, with a list of accolades that have cemented him as one of the best to ever do it for the Herd.
 
First off, Turner is the four-time defending Canada West champion in triple jump. Prior to his arrival on campus in 2022, no athlete in the storied history of the Bisons track and field program had ever won four consecutive Canada West titles in the event.
 
At the national level, Turner has a full set of triple jump medals, earning U SPORTS gold, silver and bronze. His national gold at home in 2024 marked the first time since 1990 that a Bison was the best in the country at the event, and Turner also holds the Bisons record for longest jump, at 15.82 metres.
 
The accolades don't stop there. Turner is the U18, U20 and senior outdoor triple jump record holder in Manitoba, and he also holds the U18 and U20 indoor records.
 
Turner's senior outdoor record-breaking leap of 16.14 metres took place last summer during Olympic Trials in Montreal – a silver medal performance that proved once again, that he is amongst the best in his field in the country.
 
Turner will take his talents one step further this July when he represents Canada on the international stage for the first time, at the FISU World University Games in Germany.
 
Hooked on the sport from a young age, the 6'5" Turner has put in the time. He considers triple jump to be his "calling," and his results prove that to be true.
 
"Well, I can't deny I have a slight knack for the event. I have the appropriate physiology and I seem to understand the event quite well. I think triple jumpers see the event in a way that most don't," he says candidly.
 
"There's an unappreciated artistic quality to triple jump that differs from all other events and I think I have the potential to experience the event at a high level, which I think gives me an obsessive attachment to it."
 
To his point, while others in Turner's hometown of roughly 6,000 were training to be the next hockey star, he was at the track.
 
"It was the fourth grade, I was much shorter than the other boys at that time. But I would always beat them," he recalls.
 
"My dad jokes that there comes a point in every hockey parent's life where they realize dang, my kid's not going to be in the NHL, and that was the day I learned triple jump."

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By age ten, Turner knew that track was going to be his sport of choice. That decision was solidified further in his teenage years, and it's been full steam ahead ever since.
 
"I used to play AAA hockey. I very vividly remember showing up late to a AAA game, maybe even missing one of the games in a tournament, so I could go to our track divisional meet. That's what I wanted to do. By 15 I fully decided I didn't want to play hockey anymore. I wanted to pursue track," he recalls.
 
"There's nothing cooler to me than a triple jumper. There's nothing else I'd truly want to be in the sport if not a triple jumper. When I see triple jumpers, your 17+ jumpers and the like, and I compare myself to them, the chasm isn't nearly as big as I thought. I guess it's that knowing that I could do something so rare, or difficult, whatever you call it, it gives me a responsibility or some kind of intrinsic connection to the event in a way. And I don't mean to focus on the distances, I mean more so the actual movement. Mastering the event is nothing short of my calling, or my purpose if you will."
 
While other kids back home were modeled by Canadian hockey stars like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, Turner was impacted by a different breed of athlete.
 
Early inspirations for Turner included triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards from Great Britain, American Christian Taylor who "was the man at the time" with a personal best of 18.21 metres, and Will Claye, an American jumper of Sierra Leonean descent with a personal best of 18.14 metres.
 
Turner's interests, admittedly, didn't align with that of his peers growing up. He felt isolated at times socially, admitting openly that he "didn't have the greatest time."
 
"I can't ignore how fundamentally different I felt as a kid. I think it's only true to an extent but I grew biased to seeing it everywhere as I got older. Especially with triple jump and how enthralled by the sport I was in high school, most guys I knew would quit their school sports to play high school hockey, or AAA hockey or what have you. When I quit hockey to focus on track, it wasn't common and my peers reminded me of that," he says.
 
"I generally struggled to feel like I had friendships throughout most of high school. In hindsight, I understand. I know I often misfired socially. As time went on, I think I leaned more into being different, although it wasn't always the most comfortable. I felt very unlike my peers, and I also felt that I was treated accordingly as well."
 
As high school went on, and Turner got better at jumping, he would always try to get his classmates to be as "excited as I was for me, but track wasn't on their radar."
 
"I think after a while I felt like triple jump was all I had in some ways, and I was eager to have it take me somewhere."

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Turner's self-discovery through sport has come with highs and lows.
 
Looking solely at results, no one at the university level in Western Canada has been able to match him since he earned Canada West Rookie of the Year honours in 2022-23.
 
Nationally, he's undeniable as well, including his first U SPORTS gold at home in 2024. His first-place result put the bow on the best season of his life at the time.
 
Turner didn't jump under 15.30 meters once all year, a "mind boggling statistic."
 
Simply put, when he competes, people take notice. That, however can come with a cost.
 
At times in his career, Turner's felt the need to be "perfect." When it didn't all come together, he felt like he was failing himself, and "gambling with his self-worth."
 
That statement goes back to his younger years, where there was "some level of revenge seeking." Being different, trending in a different direction than his peers, Turner's attitude was one of "I'll show you" on the track.
 
It was an ideology that he "held for some time."
 
"Triple jump is something that's so embedded in me, when I would compete and 'fail', it made me worry more and more that I might not make it. Whatever making it is. I think it was impatience. If I didn't know right now if I would reach the top, then it must not be meant to be or will never come," he says.
 
"I would do that every single competition. Big or small. When I lost, I wasn't just losing a meet, I was losing faith in myself. My identity was so tied to the outcomes of meets, I think my perfectionism has been an extension of that fear and that need to protect myself."
 
The need to be "perfect," came with anxiety.
 
As recently as this past year's Canada West Championships, Turner's nerves came into play.
 
He was the three-time defending conference champ. In his mind, he had to win again. He was putting pressure on himself to reach the standard he'd attained previously. It took some level of joy away from what he was doing.
 
"That's the one really big goal I have in my university career. I want to win all five CanWest's that I'm at. There was a lot of things I had to do in my head. I had to win the triple, and I had to qualify for nationals in the high jump. I think maybe this is part of the reason why I deal with so much anxiety on the track. I know deep down that I'm not just trying to win triple or qualify for high jump," Turner exclaims.
 
"In triple, I'm defending three years of titles. In high jump, I have to make it [to nationals], because if I don't then I've gone from bronze in high jump in my rookie year, to ninth, ninth and not going, and just getting worse every year. I was dealing with that a lot. Going into triple jump I'm having nightmares that I'm going to triple foul. There was a lot of stuff beforehand. It was harder to get excited for it."
 
It wasn't the first time Turner had dealt with internal pressure.
 
At nationals in Saskatchewan, a year before he won national gold, Turner's greatest fear was put on display for all to see.
 
Dealing with extreme personal struggle off the track, Turner double faulted on it.
 
The two-time defending Canada West champion didn't qualify for the final eight, and was handed a rare red card after putting his heart on his sleeve for the nation to see. 
 
"Regardless of what was happening in my life, I refused to admit that I might not be as in control of everything as I might be," he admits.
 
"So when things started happening in Sask, I wasn't just going to triple foul and not make the final, my whole world was crumbling right in front of me and I could do nothing to stop it. Granted, I'm the one who put myself in that position, but I digress."
 

There was much soul-seeking from Turner in the year that followed. He leaned on his parents, Chris and Kerry, and his mentor at the U of M, coach and former national triple jump medalist Gee-ef Nkwonta.
 
"We talked and dealt with the now, and how taking care of right now will help solve the problem in front of us," said Nkwonta.
 
"I just learned how he thinks and was able to relay things to him differently while keeping the focus on what the goal was."
 
Mentally, Turner worked on patience over perfection – switching the perspective.
 
"Once I realized just exactly how much was riding on my performances, I was able to work through it," Turner says. "I no longer had to protect myself from losing, which would distract me in year's past."
 
A change in ideology, healthier habits, mental health check-ins and much more, helped Turner return to form the following indoor season. It's been full steam ahead since then.
 
A silver medal at Olympic Trials, a national silver at U SPORTS in Windsor, along with a high jump personal best at the same meet, were just a few of the highlights for one of the top  jumpers Canada has to offer.
 
Turner has learned to live in the moment. To be thankful.
 
"Time genuinely stops. When I'm lucky enough to be as present as I was in Windsor, nothing else matters to me except the next jump. Everything before, everything after, I could care less. Especially when I get a glimpse of some bigger jumps that are coming my way, I can't get enough of that. I've called myself a triple jumper since I was ten years old. I never feel more like a kid than in moments like that," he smiles.
 
"The aha moment came somewhat through last summer leading into [Olympic Trials], but I don't think I truly understood how I was interfering with myself until this past U SPORTS in Windsor. I remember just feeling very grateful for the opportunity to jump and jump far on the day of triple jump."

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Turner's story is a reminder that, in his own words, "it's permissible to not be perfect."
 
"I had this misconception that admitting nervousness or anxiety makes you a weak athlete. But you can only hold those doubts and fears at bay when everything goes 100 percent perfect, which it has yet to," he notes.
 
"The more I admit my fears to myself, I notice that they were never permanent. I had just been avoiding them at all costs."
 
The thoughtful athlete hopes his message gets to the younger generation as well. He's been in their shoes, and he wants to help.
 
"I started coaching last November. I started coaching jumpers here at the track. It was kind of two things. One, I remember being an athlete in high school, specifically in track. All the things they say, I went through almost the exact same things. I realized that I was not so different than them," he says.
 
"Obviously with the difference in age, ability and performance, it's really easy for them to be convinced otherwise. Specifically with my athletes here, I do my best to be human first. I just want them to calm down, the same way I wish I did, I guess. That's one of the things I'm thinking about. I'm a lot less of an athlete than you think. Most athletes are. I want them to know that it's permissible to not be perfect. I don't expect it from them, so they shouldn't expect it from themselves. The sooner you learn that the better off you are."