Kelsey Mitchell is done with cycling but has a new sport

Sherwood Park, Alta. native Kelsey Mitchell loves to compete–but you won’t see her doing so on the track anytime soon. At least a wooden one. The Olympic gold medallist will still be going around in circles–but this time it will be ice.

Mitchell made the announcement on social media that she is taking up long track speed skating. “Buckle up folks…let’s see what I can do,” she posted on Facebook.

Her Paris Olympics didn’t go quite as well as Tokyo, to say the least. She didn’t defend her title and was eliminated early on in the keirin.

“I lost the joy I had from cycling. I know I’m not done with my athletic career. I love this lifestyle,” Mitchell, 31, said to Radio Canada. “A change of environment was what I needed. I needed to understand my body better, because I’m still struggling on the bike. I needed to focus on something new.”

Her rise to cycling success is the stuff of legend. She joined RBC Training Ground, a talent identification program, which led her to track cycling, despite not owning a bike. Just months after starting training in December, she won the women’s sprint title at the 2018 Canadian championships. Two years later, she was the Olympic champion. She’s also got a bronze from the world championships, as well as three silvers and a bronze from the Pan Ams.

In November, Mitchell tried out speed skating, wondering how she’d fare. She’s not the first cyclist in Canada that fared well in both sports–Clara Hughes won Olympic medals in both. Eric Heiden, an American, won five Olympic gold medals in speed skating and would later do the Tour de France.

The difference was–Hughes and Heiden were skaters first. There’s definitely a learning curve, she said.

“I’m like Bambi on the ice. Off the rink, I’m fine. I can do all the floor exercises. The positioning is similar to cycling. It relies a lot on the strength of the lower body. I felt really good off the rink, and then I put on the skates,” she said. “I felt so unbalanced. The blades are so thin compared to hockey skates. I haven’t really done any balance exercises for my feet. I haven’t worked the muscles in my feet and ankles.”

Canadian speedskater Ivanie Blondin said that the biggest challenge for a speed skater is mastering the turns, crossovers, and hip positioning.

“It’s cool to be the first to do something. But at the same time, I…