{"id":429165,"date":"2026-01-24T00:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429165\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T00:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:51:11","slug":"olympic-cycling-champion-kelsey-mitchell-included-on-canadian-bobsleigh-team-for-milano-cortina-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/429165\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic cycling champion Kelsey Mitchell included on Canadian bobsleigh team for Milano Cortina 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteen bobsleigh athletes were named to Team Canada on Friday, to compete across four events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. There will be three Canadian sleds in the two-woman event, and two sleds for each of the women\u2019s monobob, two-man and four-man events.<\/p>\n

The three pilots for the women\u2019s teams are Cynthia Appiah, Melissa Lotholz and Bianca Ribi, with Lotholz and Appiah also the Canadian entrants into monobob \u2014 ranked sixth and seventh in the world in the latter discipline, respectively. Lotholz has raced to six top-six finishes in seven World Cup monobob races \u2014 the most consistent of the Canadians this season \u2014 while Appiah won a silver medal at a stop in Germany earlier this month. <\/p>\n

It will be the third Olympic appearance for Lotholz and second as a pilot, and a second appearance for Appiah, who was an alternate athlete at PyeongChang 2018. Ribi, who qualified a third sled for Canada on the final weekend of the World Cup season, is making her Olympic debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the age of 12, I wrote in my journal asking God to make my \u2018silly\u2019 dream of competing at the Olympic Games come true. Even then that dream was tinged with grown-up realism and the belief the prestigious Olympic Games were pretty much impossible for someone like me from a small, humbling farming community,\u201d said Lotholz in a press release. \u201cNow 20 years later, I\u2019m gearing up for my third Olympic Games. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m completely blown away, in awe, and deeply humbled. What a privilege this is to represent our incredible country and so many people who have all contributed to this journey in some way. Like a farmer bringing their seeds to market to help feed the world, I\u2019m celebrating a dream that I\u2019ve seen multiplied. That is reflected in communities across Canada and seeing my teammates realizing their own dreams by putting on their Olympic jackets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Melissa Lotholz and Sara Villani compete at Beijing 2022. (Photo: Canadian Olympic Committee)<\/p>\n

They will be joined by brakewomen Dawn Richardson-Wilson, Skylar Sieben and Kelsey Mitchell. <\/p>\n

Mitchell is the name that stands out most, as she makes her Winter Olympic debut five years after winning an Olympic medal in track cycling at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. She also competed at Paris 2024, and only made the switch to bobsleigh in the past few months after previously also testing out speed skating. She reportedly still has ambitions to compete at LA28 on the bike.<\/p>\n

Richardson-Wilson returns for her second Olympics after competing with Appiah in Beijing, finishing eighth, while Sieben is going to her first Olympics. Eden Wilson and Niamh Haughey have been named alternates to the team and will travel to Italy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Kelsey Mitchell. (Photo: Canadian Olympic Committee)<\/p>\n

The pilots for the two- and four-man teams will be Taylor Austin and his former brakeman Jay Dearborn. Austin piloted teams to 20th and 23rd place finishes in the two- and four-man events in Beijing, while Dearborn, a former CFL player, was a brakeman on the latter team. Now a pilot, Dearborn reached the podium in 12 of 14 North American Cup races this season. <\/p>\n

Mike Evelyn O\u2019Higgins is the only brakeman with prior Olympic experience, four years after finishing seventh in two-man and ninth in four-man with pilot Chris Spring. <\/p>\n

The rest of the brakemen on Team Canada have transitioned from other sports and will be making their Olympic debuts \u2014 active Hamilton Tiger-Cats wide receiver Keaton Bruggeling, former CFL running back Shaq Murray-Lawrence, former diver who narrowly missed out on Paris 2024 Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson, and a pair of former U SPORTS varsity athletes, football player Luka Stoikos and baseball player Mark Zanette. Chris Holmstead will travel as the men\u2019s alternate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Taylor Austin and team compete in bobsleigh at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. (Photo: AP Photo\/Dmitri Lovetsky)<\/p>\n

Canada won a pair of bronze medals in bobsleigh at Beijing 2022, in men\u2019s four-man and women\u2019s monobob. Justin Kripps, who piloted the men\u2019s team and also won a gold medal in two-man at PyeongChang 2018, is one of Canada\u2019s coaches for these Games alongside the aforementioned Chris Spring and Vancouver 2010 four-man bronze medallist Lyndon Rush.<\/p>\n

Team Canada has won 10 Olympic bobsleigh medals since 1964 including five golds, two silver and three bronze, and will look to add to that at the Cortina Sliding Centre next month. <\/p>\n

Women\u2019s monobob kicks things off on February 15 and 16, overlapping slightly with the two-man bobsleigh competition on February 16 and 17. The two-woman bobsleigh takes place on February 20 and 21 before the four-man event runs from February 21-22 to close out the Olympic schedule before the closing ceremony on the 22nd. <\/p>\n

Thank you for reading this post on True North. To be the first person to read future posts, and listen to new podcast episodes, subscribe for free using the button below, or share the article with someone you know.<\/p>\n

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