![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mike-evelyn-o-higgins-solo-team.JPG\")
Mike\u00a0Evelyn\u00a0O\u2019Higgins (left) with his fourman bobsled team (photo by\u00a0Dave Holland\/COC).<\/p>\n
Savouring the moment<\/p>\n
For an elite athlete in any sport,\u00a0training and competing\u00a0can be grueling, and bobsleigh is no exception.\u00a0Evelyn O\u2019Higgins, who is now 32, has been doing it all while building his career as an engineer back in his hometown of Ottawa. But\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0determined\u00a0not\u00a0to let\u00a0it go by in a blur. The Olympics offer athletes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0particularly in\u00a0lower-profile\u00a0sports like bobsleigh\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a rare opportunity for exposure, and\u00a0as much as Evelyn O\u2019Higgins says he needs to focus on racing, he also wants to savour the entire experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving toiled in obscurity for\u00a0a thousand\u00a0days or so, to then be pulled into the limelight is a different kind of noise. You\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0want to tune that out,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cYou want to perform and execute, but also enjoy the moment, because it\u2019s fleeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balancing engineering and elite sport
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Evelyn O\u2019Higgins played hockey for five years at Dal\u00a0while\u00a0he was studying engineering. He says it was the busy-ness of those years that most prepared him for his life as it is now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed my time as a Tiger but learned you can\u2019t please everyone all the time,\u201d he says of the competing demands on his time.\u00a0Ultimately, he\u00a0successfully managed both his engineering classes and\u00a0practice\u00a0schedule. \u201cI had to learn what balance looked like,\u201d he says, adding\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0been invaluable to him now as a full-time systems engineer and team lead with\u00a0Searidge\u00a0Technologies<\/a>\u00a0while also touring the world\u00a0through his sport.<\/p>\n Evelyn O\u2019Higgins\u2019s\u00a0goals for this tournament, he says, are simply get the best possible result.\u00a0He figures\u00a0his\u00a0best opportunity is in the four-man event happening Feb. 20 and 21.\u00a0He\u2019ll\u00a0also compete in the two-man with his close friend and fellow Ottawa-based engineer Jay Dearborn on Feb. 16 and 17.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an outside chance to medal in the four-man. The goals for the two-man are to convince our funders to continue funding the team through to 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n Engineering discipline meets athletic detail Evelyn O\u2019Higgins and his team get two days of training on the track, then will spend their final pre-competition days watching and analyzing\u00a0racing videos. Bobsleigh\u00a0races\u00a0can be won by\u00a0one-hundredth of a second\u00a0thus making\u00a0the team run and\u00a0entry into the sled of paramount importance. For Evelyn O\u2019Higgins,\u00a0what he calls a\u00a0\u201cfixation on details\u201d\u00a0in the sport\u00a0aligns well with his\u00a0life as an engineer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cEngineers love taking things apart. Dissecting and analyzing them. I take 22 steps during the push\u00a0(downhill, on ice)\u00a0before I get into the sled. A lot of analysis goes into how I do that precisely and effectively,\u201d he says, adding\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0I appreciate the engineering of the sled.<\/p>\n Troy Ryan\u2019s leadership behind the bench Former\u00a0Dal Tigers\u00a0women\u2019s hockey\u00a0coach\u00a0from 2020 to\u00a0the\u00a02023-24 season,\u00a0Troy Ryan,\u00a0is also at the Olympics in his role as\u00a0coach\u00a0for\u00a0the Canadian women’s hockey team.\u00a0Ryan was behind the bench in Beijing in 2022 when the Canadian women reclaimed hockey gold from the United States in a\u00a0three-two\u00a0final, and\u00a0will be looking to add\u00a0another Olympic gold medal\u00a0to his trophy cabinet after\u00a0the games in\u00a0Milan-Cortina, Italy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is always an honour and privilege to be in this leadership position as we set our expectations and goals for the Olympics,\u201d\u00a0Ryan\u00a0told\u00a0The Hockey News<\/a>. \u201cWe have a tremendous coaching staff that is committed to the vision and process, and I am excited for the journey ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Now read:<\/p>\n Excellence beyond the game: Dalhousie Tigers celebrate 161 Academic All Canadians<\/a><\/p>\n Award\u2011winning Dal goalie joins national push to elevate women coaches in hockey<\/a><\/p>\n
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