Two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-sport athlete Heather Moyse is an ambassador, a role model, and above all, a champion. Representing Canada’s national teams in bobsleigh, rugby, and cycling, some have suggested that Heather is Canada’s best all-round female athlete, ever. Living by her personal motto, “believe in the possibilities”, Heather inspires people to go after all of their dreams.
As for competing in the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, it wasn’t really a thing Moyse was considering. She had retired, but then things changed. You’d think it would be her old teammate calling up and saying it was worth going for another medal, but that wasn’t it. It was more about helping the next generation of Olympians pursue their dreams—an inspiring story of personality and purpose covered in a recent National Post story. Here’s some of that piece:
“What makes for a great pairing? You don’t always know.”
Last March, Humphries surprisingly approached Moyse about making a comeback and giving a third Olympics together one last shot. Moyse declined the invitation. “I was done,” she said. “I was over it.” At least for a few months, she was definitely over it.
Then one day last August she received what she called the longest Instragram message possible from emerging bobsled driver Alysia Rissling.
“She didn’t even have my email address,” said Moyse. “We’d never spoken before.” Basically what Rissling was asking for was advice and mentorship. She wanted Moyse to be her teammate and life coach.
“August was all about hypotheticals,” she said. “I hadn’t trained for three and a half years. I had another hip surgery. I’m 39 years old in case you didn’t know. And you’re thinking, do you put yourself on the line and potentially risk failing? Or do I risk that kind of past track record and come back and do this? My motivation wasn’t that I could come back and win a third Olympics. My motivation is: can I help someone win their first.”
Humphries isn’t wired that way. It’s win or bust with her. Her way or the highway. Because she’s so great at what she does and so strong minded, she can be a chore. As a sport, though, bobsled, has a history of contention and fractured relationships. This happens to be the gold medal version.
“Success isn’t just getting the corner office in the skyscraper building and being the CEO, if you’re unhappy about doing that. For me, being successful is about motivation. I wouldn’t have been able to be here if I wasn’t motivated.
Read the full article.