Catriona Le May Doan

Catriona Le May Doan was the fastest woman on ice. After carrying the Canadian flag into the 2002 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremonies (her fourth Olympics), Catriona defended her Olympic title with a Gold medal performance in the 500 metre event, becoming the only Canadian individual to defend a gold medal at any Olympic Games. She held the World Record in the 500m for 10 years and still currently holds the Olympic Record. During her career Catriona broke 13 World Records.

In 1998, at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games, Catriona won her first Olympic Gold medal in the 500m in Olympic record time, then added an Olympic Bronze Medal in the 1000m event. She finished the 1998 season first overall in the World Cup standings in both the 500m and 1000m events. In 1999 Catriona’s domination in the speed skating world continued when she finished first overall in the World Cup standings for the 500 m event.

Catriona’s accomplishments have earned her the 2002 Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Athlete of the Year and she is a three-time recipient (1998, 2001, 2002)of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canadian Female Athlete of the Year award.

In addition to being a world champion athlete, Catriona is a talented motivational speaker. She is an articulate, engaging and bilingual presenter, exploring with her audiences the method of achieving personal excellence while challenging and motivating people to achieve their full potential.  

Catriona is actively involved in her community and charity associations including The Saskatoon Foundation Catriona Le May Doan Endowment for Children and Youth. She is a spokesperson for the SpinaBifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada, Right to Play, and Ontario’s Lakefield Oval Project. She was on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee Board and is a Board member of CODA and the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary.

Catriona has covered four Olympic Games and co-hosted the primetime show Countdown to Beijing. She joined the CTV Olympic broadcast team for the Vancouver 2010 Games, which earned her a Gemini for Best Sports Analyst.

Catriona has received three Honorary Degrees from the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina and gave the convocation speech to their graduating classes. Catriona was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Sports Hall of Fame and appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Catriona lives in Calgary with her husband Bart and their two children.

• 4. Celebrity Appearances

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• 3. The Words of A Champion

• 2. The Olympic Experience: Going for Gold

• 1. Personal Excellence: Achieving Your Full Potential

  Catriona will share her insights on achieving goals and her career highs and lows. You can achieve your full potential through passion, a winning attitude, commitment, and teamwork. Her years as a speed skater have taught Catriona how to deal not only with obstacles, but also with success.
  
  What does it take to be the best? What does it take to stay there?
  
  The journey of Catriona LeMay Doan will take you there and inspire you to reach farther than you thought possible.

• Catriona was awesome! Great presenter, great role model, great Canadian! She was very gracious in the time she committed and spent with our group and she received three standing ovations! They loved her.
  Investors Group

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  October 2003

  Going for Gold

  In Going For Gold, Catriona tells the story of her life with assistance from Calgary writer Ken McGoogan. Born and raised in Saskatoon, by age 15 she already was a track star provincially. At 18, she joined Canada's Olympic Team and began competing internationally. Then, at the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994, with experts predicting that she would reach the podium, the 23-year-old athlete crashed in her best event. She describes her dark night of the soul, and how, eventually, she emerged to skate faster than ever - faster than any other woman has ever skated.