Kelsey Mitchell has joined an exclusive group of Canadian athletes who have competed in both the summer and winter Olympic Games. The track cycling gold medalist from Sherwood Park, Alberta, was recently selected for Canada’s bobsled team for the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Games. Mitchell, aged 32, clinched gold in sprint cycling at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and has now been chosen to be a part of Canada’s bobsled brakewomen pool.
Out of the 14 Canadian athletes who have participated in both the Winter and Summer Olympics, Mitchell becomes the sixth bobsledder to achieve this feat. Expressing her excitement, Mitchell mentioned that being part of this select group of athletes is a special honor for her. She shared her sentiments while visiting Olympic Heights School, where the team was introduced to the students.
Clara Hughes, a cyclist and speedskater, remains the only Canadian athlete to have secured medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. Mitchell, who also competed in cycling at the Paris 2024 Summer Games, joined the bobsleigh team in the previous year. Reflecting on her journey, Mitchell highlighted the learnings she has acquired from her previous Olympic experiences and aims to support her teammates in navigating the upcoming Games.
The 2026 Olympic bobsleigh team comprises 17 athletes, including three alternates. Canada has qualified for three sleds in women’s bobsled and two each in women’s monobob, two-man, and four-man events. Melissa Lotholz and Cynthia Appiah, from Barrhead and Toronto respectively, will pilot women’s sleds and also participate in monobob races. Additionally, Bianca Ribi, a Calgary firefighter, secured a spot in the women’s sleds during the final World Cup races of the qualifying period.
The team also includes brakewomen Dawn Richard-Wilson from Edmonton, Skylar Sieben from Cochrane, Alberta, as well as pilot Taylor Austin from Lethbridge, Alberta, who will be competing in his second Olympic Games. Former CFL defensive back Jay Dearborn is set to pilot two sleds. The team also features brakemen Keaton Bruggeling, Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson, Mike Evelyn O’Higgins, Shaq Murray-Lawrence, Luka Stoikos, and Mark Zanette. Niamh Haughey, Eden Wilson, and Chris Holmstead have been selected as alternates.
Eskrick-Parkinson, who formerly represented Jamaica in world diving championships, switched to bobsleigh to fulfill his Olympic aspirations. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to compete in a different sport and acknowledged the achievement it represents. Canadian bobsleigh athletes have a strong history of success, with a total of 10 Olympic medals since 1964, including five gold, two silver, and three bronze.
The Canadian bobsleigh team has been on a rebuilding journey since 2022, according to Jesse Lumsden, the high-performance director at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. Lumsden, a former CFL player and three-time Olympian in bobsleigh, emphasized the team’s potential for success despite recent ranking fluctuations. He highlighted the importance of consistency and solid performance as key factors for achieving success at the Olympics and world championships.