Prince Antepim

The Long Road to Fast: The Competitive Curiosity of Prince Antepim

He didn’t start as the fastest. He started as the one who refused to stop improving.

For Prince Antepim, track and field didn’t begin with a starting gun. It began with curiosity — and a YouTube rabbit hole.

“I started competing in track and field in junior high,” he says. “Back then I was doing javelin and long jump.” But what really pulled him in were the athletes he watched online — legends like Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, the kind of competitors who made speed look effortless.

“I wanted to emulate that greatness,” he says.

Sports had always been part of his life. Growing up, Prince played a little bit of everything — hockey, basketball, wrestling, football, track and field — each one another chance to test himself. “From a young age, I always had the ambition to be the best I could be,” he says. “No matter the sport.”

But ambition has a funny way of colliding with reality.

On the first day of high school track practice, Prince noticed something immediately. “There were a lot of people faster than me,” he says. “And for a moment, I thought maybe I didn’t belong.”

That doubt didn’t last long.

“I realized improvement is part of the process,” he says. “Nobody starts as a gold medalist or a world champion. You work to get there.” That realization became the foundation of his mindset — that failure isn’t proof you don’t belong. It’s proof you’re on the path.

“Hard work pays off,” he says. “And the lack of it shows.”

This season marks a return to track for Prince after a few years away, and his goals are refreshingly simple. “First — have fun. Second — push myself to the limit.” For him, sport isn’t just about results. It’s about the privilege of being able to compete at all.

“I’m lucky to be here,” he says. “So I want to enjoy every moment and give it everything I’ve got.”

Off the track, Prince’s mind moves just as fast — just in a different direction. He’s a history graduate from the University of Calgary, someone who finds the same fascination in the past that he does in sport. “I love reading and writing about historical topics,” he says. “Thinking about what those moments meant for people and society.”

It’s a contrast that suits him: the physical grind of athletics balanced with the quiet reflection of history books. When he needs to reset, the routine is simple — Netflix, music, or an album played straight through from start to finish.

And before competition? That’s when the energy flips.

“I listen to WWE entrance music,” he says with a grin. Growing up, the spectacle of wrestling made a lasting impression. “When they walked out, they looked like superheroes ready to handle business.” His favorite is Dave Bautista’s “I Walk Alone.”

It’s the perfect pre-race soundtrack — dramatic, intense, just a little larger than life.

For Prince Antepim, the journey isn’t about proving he was always the fastest. It’s about proving how far dedication can take you.

Because sometimes the most interesting athletes aren’t the ones who start at the top.

They’re the ones who decide to climb.