Catriona Le May Doan

Catriona Le May Doan

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Two-time Olympic Champion Speed Skater, Officer of the Order of Canada, Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

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.

Catriona became Canada’s first and only female 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 500m event.

Catriona’s accomplishments 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 Canadian Female Athlete of the Year award.

In an incredible 2002 season, Catriona captured the World, Olympic and World Cup Championship titles in the 500m distance. She broke her World Record in the 500m. She dominated at this distance with a 20-race victory streak over two seasons.

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 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, and involved with Special Olympics Canada. She was on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee Board and is a board member of the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary and member of the Canada Games Council.

In the media, Catriona has covered five Olympic Games. She co-hosted CBC’s primetime showCountdown to Beijing; joined the CTV Olympic broadcast team for the Vancouver 2010 Games, which earned her a Gemini Award for Best Sports Analyst; and for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Catriona was co-host of the Olympic Morning Show.

Catriona has received three Honorary Degrees from the University of Calgary, the Universityof 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.

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Speaking topics

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.

Managing Expectations

Changing situations means changing expectations – and mounting pressures to meet those expectations, both from within and from the outside world. Dealing with pressure and the fear of failure (and fear of success) is a reality for so many. Catriona will share with you, and help you learn from her own experience, as someone who dealt with changing expectations in the public eye.

Breaking New Ground

What does it mean to be the first person to accomplish something? When no one has ever been in the same situation as you before? Quite simply, a lot of responsibility. As the only Canadian to defend a gold medal at any Olympic games, Catriona will tell you about the stresses, tell you how you can help pave the way for others to follow like a true leader.

Women and Careers

Catriona Le May Doan can tell you about being an Olympic Champion Speed Skater and an Olympic broadcaster, about being tirelessly involved with her beloved community and those in it, about being a spokesperson for the SpinaBifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada, Right to Play and Ontario’s Lakefield Oval Project, and, most importantly, about being a woman and mother. Women are constantly pulled in many different directions. Find out how balance of work, life, and motherhood is possible while working towards your own goals.

Corporate Hosting

For all your corporate banquets and award evenings, Catriona can engage with and entertain individuals, in both English and French.

Video clips

Catriona Le May Doan: Journey to Gold

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