How Canadian athlete went from being broke to accomplishing rare Olympic feat
Kelsey Mitchell famously didn’t own a bike back in 2017.
Four years later, she won gold for Canada in track cycling.
Now? She has a shot at making history for her country.
The Sherwood Park, Alta., native was just named to Canada’s bobsleigh team for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan. That puts her among a short list of athletes who’ve competed at both Olympics.
Clearly, being an inspiration is in Mitchell’s nature.
Like many in their young twenties, Mitchell went backpacking in Southeast Asia in 2017 after graduating from university in Edmonton. She planned to work for the Suncor refinery in Strathcona after her trip, but she missed the window to interview after contracting dengue fever overseas.
āI came back, and I was completely lost, and I didnāt really know what I was doing with my life,ā sheĀ told The Globe and Mail after her gold medal win in 2021.
She ended up taking a job driving a truck in Alberta’s Strathcona County.
āI would take anything because I was just broke,ā she said.
However, the itch to compete athletically never dissipated.
Mitchell played many sports throughout her life, including playing varsity soccer for the University of Alberta. She ended up joining the RBC Training Ground, a talent identification program.
Three months later, she signed with Cycling Canada. At the time, she hadn’t owned a bike since she was 12 years old.
That proved not to be a deterrent, as Mitchell proceeded to win 18 medals total across all international competitions. That includes seven gold medals, with the most notable one coming at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Now, Mitchell has the chance to make history.
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Among the 14 athletes who’ve dually competed at the Summer and Winter Olympics, only one of them has managed to collect medals at both.
Clara Hughes, like Mitchell, medaled in cycling, taking home two bronze medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She then morphed into a long-track speed skating star, finishing on the podium four other times across three Winter Olympics.
However, no athlete in the history of the Olympics has ever taken home gold at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Could Mitchell be the first?
If her story has taught you anything, it’s that she shouldn’t be doubted.