Can’t say that we here at Canadian Cycling Magazine had this on our bingo card. But it’s almost time for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and guess what? One of our star cyclists will be there.
The 25th Winter Olympics take place Feb. 6 to 22 in Italy this year, and Kelsey Mitchell has qualified in the two-woman bobsleigh. This is her third games–the first of which she took a gold medal in the sprint.
Of course, this is the first time she’s heading to a wintry version.
“I knew I wasn’t done being an athlete, but I also knew I needed some time away from the bike,” Mitchell said.
Initially, she had her eye on speed skating, a sport that shares similarities with cycling — leg power and anaerobic capacity. Clara Hughes, another Olympic medallist on two wheels, began as a skater, and would go on to snag more hardware on the ice after her long cycling career. Mitchell gave it a shot, but it wasn’t totally for her.
If Clara Hughes could do it all again, she’d ditch cycling and skating and be a XC skier
“Little did I know how technical and hard it would be to learn,” she said. “I still had a ton of fun learning to ‘skate.’”
Last summer, Mitchell returned to Alberta from Ontario, intending to keep up with speed skating until the Edmonton Velodrome reopened in the fall. While training at CSI Alberta in Calgary, a new opportunity appeared — one she’d quietly been intrigued by for years.
“I was approached by some bobsledders and invited to try a push camp,” she said. “I had actually always wanted to try bobsleigh, so I jumped at the opportunity.”
All it took was one little training camp to help her decided that sleddin’ was for her.
“I had tons of fun, and in that moment decided to go all in and see what could happen.”
Mitchell is the brakeman, and she will be racing with pilot Melissa Lotholz.
“I’m just grateful to keep being an athlete,” she said. “To have gone to two Summer Olympics, won an Olympic gold medal, and now be going to my third Games in a brand new sport — I’m very proud.”
Of course, Mitchell is not one for the participation medal–she’s a champio and has a helluva competitive spirit, given her track record (see what I did there?)
When asked what she thought about getting more medals, she said, “There’s always a chance.”
To tune into the 2-woman Bobsled, you can either watch it on CBC or CBC Gem. There’s also some nice documentaries on the sport on the latter to check…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…