How dyslexia helped chart Olympic course for Canadian biathlete Jasper Fleming

In Grade 2, Jasper Fleming acquired his “superpower.”

The Edmonton native had developed anxiety over the previous two school years, unable to read and write at the same level as his peers.

It wasn’t for a lack of intelligence — his parents, Lise and Aric, say he was extremely well-spoken — but that only exacerbated the nerves.

Toward the end of the school year, Fleming got his answer: he was diagnosed with severe dyslexia.

The diagnosis was a blessing for Fleming: “it was nice to put a name to [it],” he said. From there, he was able to attack life with all the proper information. He joined a free program called Right To Learn, funded by the Free Masons, in its first year, where he received twice-weekly after-school tutoring.

“Through that, I rewired my brain in a way that allowed me to see the world in a completely different perspective. So it doesn't just happen with reading and cognition,” Fleming said.

“Everything that I do in this world revolves around dyslexia, which is, I think, the biggest superpower I've ever had in my life.”

Now, over a decade later, Fleming’s world is biathlon — and he has his sights set on Milan-Cortina 2026.

The 20-year-old would like to become just the second Canadian biathlete to ever win an Olympic medal, following Myriam Bedard, who took three of them — two gold, one bronze — across the 1992 and 1994 Olympics.

But even Fleming didn’t think that could become reality as soon as this February.

“It's crazy to me that I started with this big list of goals when I was nine years old. It's like, ‘Oh, I want to make the national team one day and I want to win national medals and go to the Olympics,’” Fleming said.

“And I'm sitting here telling you this, 11 years later, it's all possible. Most of