THE ATHLETE

2x OLYMPIC CHAMPION & HALL OF FAMER

Rugby, Bobsleigh, Track Cycling

BOBSLEIGH

Four months after climbing into a bobsleigh for the first time, Heather represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. A fourth-place finish by the narrowest of margins felt like ‘unfinished business’ for this fierce competitor. So after taking a year to finish her master’s degree in occupational therapy, she returned to the bobsleigh track. Heather first captured the nation’s attention in 2010 while standing on top of the Olympic podium with her teammate, Kaillie Humphries. After setting start records all over Europe on the World Cup circuit, the electrifying duo made Canadian history on home soil at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics after bombing down the track to win Canada’s first-ever gold medal in women’s bobsleigh.

Embracing and overcoming some personal challenges (including a broken ankle and a hip surgery), and returning to bobsleigh only 6 months before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Heather amazed and endeared the world by not giving up on her own journey, and the electrifying duo successfully defended their title as Olympic Champions – a feat accomplished only twice before by Canadian Olympians – after a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

In September 2017, after not training for three and a half years (since the Sochi Olympics) and having a second hip surgery, Heather returned to the sport of bobsleigh for the sole purpose of empowering the younger less-experienced athletes and helping them navigate the high-pressure Olympic season. Despite the outside pressures to compete with her former teammate and win another medal, she strongly believed in investing in the next generation and stuck to her values, and helped make history in qualifying three Canadian women’s sleds for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games. And, only five and a half months after starting to train again, at the age of 39, Heather competed in her fourth Olympic Games and pushed one of Canada’s Olympic rookies to a sixth-place finish.

HIGHLIGHTS IN BOBSLEIGH

Olympic Winter Games:

2006 – 4th
2010 – Gold Medalist
2014 – Gold Medalist
2018 – 6th

International World Cup Circuit:

World Cup Medals: 16
World Championship Medals: 2
Push-Start Records on almost every track around the world

National:

Canadian Championships: 2x National Champion

RUGBY

Heather has also represented Canada on the National Senior Women’s Rugby team in 22 international rugby games and 5 international rugby sevens tournaments, including the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow, Russia – only 7 months after her hip surgery – in which she helped the team to a silver medal finish.

Heather was the leading try-scorer in both the 2006 and 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cups and was selected as one of only two females in the world to be International Rugby Anti-Doping Ambassadors. In 2014, she was named as one of 37 international Athlete Role Models for the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

In November 2016, Heather was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame – the only Canadian female and only second Canadian to receive that honour, joining the likes of Johnny Wilkinson and Nelson Mandela for their contribution to the sport.

HIGHLIGHTS IN RUGBY

2016 – Inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame

Rugby World Cup:

2006 – Leading Try-Scorer
2010 – Leading Try-Scorer

Rugby Sevens World Cup:

2013 – Silver Medalist

Int’l 15’s Games Played: 22
Int’l 7’s Tournaments Played: 5

TRACK CYCLING

But that is not all. Because of a serious ankle injury, Heather decided to take up track cycling as part of her rehabilitation program. After clipping into pedals for the first time in June 2011 and riding on a track for the first time in September 2011, she earned a spot to represent Canada in the 2012 Pan-American Cycling Championships in Argentina, making track cycling her third national sport for Canada.