Photo: Barry McCluskey

Luka Stoikos was busy preparing for last year’s CFL Invitational Combine when he decided to also perform for Olympic scouts. Eight months later, he’s in Italy to represent Canada in the bobsleigh.

“RBC Training Ground came to (the University of Toronto last spring) and I was like, ‘I’ve already trained for the (CFL) Combine, I might as well just do another one,’” Stoikos told his alma mater. “I was like, ‘Listen, I’m still trying to get drafted to the CFL here. If for whatever reason that doesn’t work out, I’ll give you a call.’”

The five-foot-ten, 230-pound ball-carrier rushed 111 times for 601 yards and six touchdowns over 29 games with the Varsity Blues. He was also effective on special teams, returning 59 kickoffs for 1,291 yards and three scores, earning a second-team OUA all-star selection in 2022.

When it comes to football, the Varsity Blues are hardly a U Sports powerhouse. The team hasn’t posted a winning record this century and only two University of Toronto alumni — Saskatchewan fullback Albert Awachie and Winnipeg defensive back Nick Hallett — are under contract in the CFL.

Stoikos ended up being one of the top performers at the CFL Invitational Combine in Waterloo, Ont. last year, running a 4.59-second forty-yard dash, performing 27 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, and leaping 33 inches in the vertical jump. Despite the impressive testing numbers, he was the No. 67 overall pick in the 2025 CFL Draft, an event that only had 72 selections.

The 22-year-old attended training camp with the B.C. Lions but was held off the stat sheet in the team’s first preseason game. He was then released on May 29, one day before B.C.’s final preseason game against the Edmonton Elks. It didn’t take him long after that to commit to bobsleigh.

“The night I got cut (by the Lions), the first phone call I made was to my parents,” said Stoikos. “The second one I made was to my contact at Bobsleigh Canada. I said, ‘Hey, when do I start?’”

The Toronto native also competed in track and field at the U Sports level, ranking fifth in the weight throw and eighth in shot put at the OUA Championships in 2024. His father, Boris, was an All-American hammer-thrower at the University of Georgia, while his uncle, John, was a hammer-thrower at the University of South Carolina. Both men also competed in the Commonwealth Games.

Stoikos started his bobsleigh training in Calgary by pushing a frame sled. Eventually, training moved to Whistler, B.C., which saw him get more practical experience.

“They brought us to Whistler to actually go down the track for the first time,” he said with a laugh. “It’d probably be equivalent to being in a bathtub and then being put into the clothes dryer and then going down a mountain.”

After competing at the World Cup in Altenberg, Germany in January, Stoikos was officially named to the Olympic team.

Stoikos is one of many athletes with CFL connections competing in the bobsleigh at this year’s Olympics in Milan and Cortina. Keaton Bruggeling, an active receiver for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, is competing along with former defensive back Jay Dearborn and former running back Shaq Murray-Lawrence. Dearborn and Murray-Lawrence will compete in the two-man events in addition to the four-man events.

As per a spokesperson, Stoikos will be part of the four-man bobsleigh headed by Dearborn. Bruggeling and Murray-Lawrence will be part of Canada’s other four-man bobsleigh.

Jesse Lumsden, a longtime CFL running back whose father, Neil, is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, is the high-performance director for Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. The native of Edmonton, Alta. is in Italy to accompany the team after previously competing in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics.

“Canada gave my family so much when they moved here,” said Stoikos. “For me to be able to give back and represent that country is honestly a blessing.”

Team Canada has won 10 Olympic bobsleigh medals since 1964, including five golds, two silver and three bronze. This year’s bobsleigh events will begin on February 12 with official training, then the heats begin on February 15. The four-man heats don’t start until February 21 with medals being awarded on February 22.