32 » OpenRoad Driver
CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT
Competitive Edge
TORY NYHAUG
Words by Roslyne Buchanan
Photos by Ellen Ho
»
Tory Nyhaug doesn’t shy away from breaking boundaries. He debuted at the London 2012
Olympics as Canada’s lone BMX racer at age 20. For that matter, breaking bones doesn’t seem to
hold him back. Eleven weeks prior to his London Olympic debut, he ruptured his spleen for the
second time and only one week after surgery to remove it, he was training again.
Nyhaug’s biography on the Canadian
Olympic website outlines his
“breakthrough in 2013 when he reached
his first World Cup podiums… and
advanced to the world championship
final.” In 2014, he won silver in the world
championship. The biography notes his
broken bones – an estimated 15 to 20 in his
young life – which included breaking both
arms as a 14-year old. It was just seven
weeks later, he returned to racing. Spring
forward to November 2014, when he broke
his left foot and had six screws implanted
in surgery. After a three-month stint on
crutches and rehabilitation, he was back
on the track in April. His determination
delivered a gold medal at home in Canada
at the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Nyhaug launched his 2016 season with
three straight time trial wins at the first
three World Cup events. He went on to
the Olympics in Rio where he became the
first Canadian male BMX rider to advance
to the final. He finished fifth overall in a
Canadian best-ever performance.
Nyhaug shrugs off his broken bones and
injuries as an occupational byproduct. He
hails from Coquitlam, BC although while
we talk, he’s training in the San Diego area.
He exudes personal fortitude beyond his
years, quickly giving credit to others for
helping him succeed, including his parents
Greg Nyhaug and Margit Heinonen, and
sister Layne.
Even his motto, “No time is better than a
slow time,” is attributed to something his
father said while encouraging him to give
his all. Nyhaug explains, “As a sport, BMX
goes quickly. You have to go fast with no
fear and a lot of focus.” As for getting into
the sport, he could ride a two-wheel bicycle
at age two-and-a-half, and attributes taking
up BMX at age four to his uncle who took
him to a local track. An athletic kid from
an athletic family who already loved bike
riding, he was hooked from that moment.
“My sister Layne was a great BMX rider.
She’s a teacher now, and plays hockey and
softball. Dad is a bike rider and hockey
player, and Mom plays softball,” he points
out. “They’re all pretty fit and support me
in my training.”
Nyhaug also acknowledges his competitors
as part of his support system. When he was
nine or ten, he met American BMX racer
Connor Fields of Las Vegas, Nevada, and
they immediately struck up an enduring
friendship. As training partners, they share
coach PH Sauze, for whom Nyhaug shows
tremendous appreciation.
Nyhaug has achieved so much already
going fast and flying high on his BMX
bike while remaining so grounded. I could
be talking to one of my own nephews given
the ease of our chat. He exemplifies those
cliché Canadian traits of politeness and
approachability while projecting a pure joy
in his vocation.