CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chuba Hubbard remembers the moment vividly. He was in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a 9-year-old competing in his first international track meet and for the first time outside of Canada. He had never lost a race, but he did that day, and afterward he said he “cried my eyes out” in embarrassment.

His track coach, Corrine Timmer, also remembers the moment vividly because of what Hubbard said to her afterward.

“He’s like, ‘This is just the beginning, Coach. I’m going to the Olympics,”’ recalled Timmer, who began coaching Hubbard as a first-grader. “It was nonstop. He wanted to hit the big time. He wasn’t satisfied with just winning a race here or there. He wanted to be on the world stage.

“But of course, football became the bigger pull and sidetracked him from that Olympic goal.”

Fast-forward 17 years. Hubbard is doing extra work with a Carolina Panthers assistant coach after a routine offseason workout. He’s showing the same work ethic Timmer saw every day for track in Edmonton, Alberta, only now it’s out of a desire to be the best running back he can be.

But because the league recently voted to allow players to compete in flag football in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Hubbard’s childhood dream has been reborn.

“Hell yeah!” Hubbard told ESPN when asked if he wants to represent Canada. “I don’t know the process or anything, but I plan to still be in this league and thrive in 2028. So, if they want me to become a part of it, it would be an honor.”

HUBBARD, A 2021 fourth-round draft pick, has risen from almost an afterthought in the Carolina offense behind Christian McCaffrey to a centerpiece, following the three-time Pro Bowler’s departure in 2022.

Hubbard had a career-high 1,195 rushing yards in 2024, despite missing the final two games with knee and calf injuries, and signed a four-year, $33.2 million contract in November.

“He sets a standard for [the running back] room and certainly for the offense, even in the walk-throughs,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said. “He knows what we’re looking for and how we want it to feel, and so he just kind of champions the cause.”

But before football, Hubbard’s first goal was to become an Olympic champion as a sprinter. It began in elementary school and junior high when he was setting Canadian records in the 100 and 200 meters for the Edmonton Olympic Track and Field Club.

It continued in high school when Hubbard represented Canada in the 100 meters at the World Youth Championships, clocking a personal-best 10.55 seconds.

It was still alive when he went to Oklahoma State to be a two-sport star before focusing full time on football.

“He was like one of my own,” said Timmer, a person Hubbard calls his second mom. “He was best friends with my youngest son. Both dreamed of the Olympics from elementary school on.

“But as he told me when he went the football route, ‘I really, really love football.’ I was like, ‘You go pursue your dreams.’ Now he’s going to have a chance to go to the Olympics in football. I couldn’t be happier.”

There will be competition beyond NFL players, as Canada has a national flag football team and CFL players could get into the mix. But when asked who might fill out a roster around him, Hubbard didn’t hesitate to rattle off a list of NFL players from Canada.

Jevon Holland (S, New York Giants), Deane Leonard (CB, Los Angeles Chargers), Jesse Luketa (LB, Arizona Cardinals), Benjamin St-Juste (CB, Chargers), twins Sydney Brown (S, Philadelphia Eagles) and Chase Brown (RB, Cincinnati Bengals), and Neville Gallimore (NT, Indianapolis Colts).

“There’s so many guys now … all the guys that I grew up with that made it into the league,” Hubbard said with pride. “Even younger guys now that are coming up. I feel like that would lead the charge.”

BUT FIRST HUBBARD wants to help the Panthers end a streak of seven straight losing seasons, make the playoffs and prove the organization was right to put its faith in him after moving on from McCaffrey.

“I want to be the best,” Hubbard said. “I want to be great, chasing something that only I know I can obtain and I can achieve. Needless to say, I want to win games. I want to win a Super Bowl. I want my teammates to have that stuff, as well.”

In his first game after signing his extension Nov. 7, Hubbard had a career-best 153 yards rushing in an overtime victory against the Giants in Germany. He had 152 yards and two touchdowns in his final game before going on injured reserve with a strained calf.

Perhaps Hubbard could have made more money by waiting to sign the extension, but he isn’t looking back.

“From where I come from, the money I got is more than life-changing,” said Hubbard. “It’s generational.

“All I can say is it came at the perfect timing. I’m not really looking at it like I should have waited two games later or whatever. Things happen the way they do for a reason.”

Timmer understands. She watched Hubbard grow up with limited finances. She knows what it means for him to be able to take care of his mother, who is on disability after years as a health-care giver.

“All he wanted was that break,” Timmer said. “That red-shirt year at Oklahoma State was probably the hardest thing for him based just on waiting and waiting. He was always, ‘Coach, put me in. I’ll show you what I can do.”’

HUBBARD WILL HAVE backfield competition in 2025, as the Panthers signed free agent Rico Dowdle, who had 1,000 rushing yards last season with the Dallas Cowboys, and drafted Trevor Etienne (Georgia) in the fourth round, though 2024 second-rounder Jonathon Brooks will miss the season with his second torn right ACL.

But in his quest for the 2028 Olympics, Hubbard hopes to rekindle the memories of when he was 16, representing Canada in the 100 meters at the World Youth Championships, clocking a personal best 10.55 seconds and just missing out on a medal.

Among those who beat him was Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who went on to become a two-time Olympian and reach the men’s final in the 100 meter at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

“[Hubbard] was going against athletes who were around 20, and he was a 16-year-old at that time,” Timmer recalled. “And he placed fifth, which is a pretty incredible feat.”

Timmer has no doubt Hubbard could have become an Olympian in track had he not played football, which took a toll on his body and made preparing for track season and setting records difficult.

“If he had the extra years of training in track without the football injuries, he easily could have been in the Olympics,” Timmer said. “To have that opportunity now to combine both his Olympic dream and football into one is pretty incredible.”

Hubbard can’t wait for the opportunity to compete for the Canadian Olympic team and face the United States, the presumptive favorite.

“Yeah! You’re asking the wrong guy,” Hubbard said with a smile when asked if Canada can win the gold medal. “I’m going to say we’re going to win no matter what.”

It all goes back to the mentality Timmer saw after that loss in Hershey.

“I don’t know why as a kid I thought that,” Hubbard said. “But from that moment on I was like, ‘I’ll never lose. I’m going to be great in everything I do.”’