Canadian Olympic athlete first tried her sport eight months ago after a random DM
Becoming an Olympic athlete takes years of dedication and sacrifice in a particular sport.
Unless your name is Kelsey Mitchell.
The 32-year-old Canadian athlete seems to be able to pick up new sports at ease.
The Sherwood Park, Alta., product has qualified for three Olympic Games, in two different sports.
She’s been to the Summer Games, but not in soccer, the sport she played competitively growing up. And now she’s going to the Winter Olympics, but not in speed skating, the sport she was competing in 12 months ago.
Mitchell was on the University of Alberta’s varsity soccer team before trying track cycling for the first time in 2018. Just three years later, she won gold for Canada in her new sport at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
“Nobody really thought I would make the Olympics in the short amount of time that I did, let alone win it,” Mitchell said in an exclusive interview with Daily Hive last year.
Mitchell won gold for Canada in track cycling at the Tokyo Olympics (Andrew P. Scott/Imagn Images)
After competing in track cycling again at Paris 2024, Mitchell began her journey to the Winter Games.
But that required learning another new sport.
At this time last year, Mitchell was committing to long track speed skating, which seemed like a natural for someone who had earned the nickname “Quadzilla.” But that proved to be unsuccessful, and in July she announced that she was giving up the sport.
But Mitchell didn’t give up on the Winter Olympics.
Canadian Olympic bobsleigh pilot Melissa Lotholz slid into her DMs on May 29, 2025, with a message that changed everything.
“I can’t help but wonder if you’ve thought about giving bobsleigh a try,” she said.
@mel.lotholz/Instagram
Good call, Melissa.
In under eight months, Lotholz and Mitchell formed a duo and qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, where they’ll represent Canada in the two-woman bobsleigh competition.
“I wish I could tell 18-year-old Kelsey she’d be headed to her third Olympics… in sports she’d never even thought of trying,” Mitchell said recently on social media.
@kelsey.mitchell9/Instagram
Lotholz, who represented Canada at Beijing 2022 and PyeongChang 2018, is blown away with new teammate’s progression.
“When I first messaged Kelsey about trying bobsleigh just eight months ago, I had no idea that fast forward we’d be lining up together to race for Canada at the Olympic Games,” Lotholz said.
“Her transition into the sport has been nothing short of incredible – she’s picked up bobsleigh at lightning speed and has already made an immediate impact. I’m so excited to see what we can do together, and to lean into and grow from both of our experiences as we gear up for what will be our third Olympic Games.”