Catriona Ann Le May Doan, (born December 23, 1970) is a retired

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

and a double Olympic champion in the 500 m and served as the chef de mission for Team Canada at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

in Beijing.

Career

Speed skating

Born in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, of Scottish ancestry, Le May Doan won the Olympic 500 m title at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and she repeated this feat at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, giving rise to the title "the fastest woman on ice". At the Nagano Olympics, she also won a bronze on the 1,000 m. She was World Sprint Champion 1998 and 2002 and World Champion 500 m 1998, 1999, and 2001, and she won a 500 m bronze in 2000. She has also won the 500 m World Cup 4 times (in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003) and the 1,000 m World Cup once (in 1998). She has twice been Canada's flag bearer at the Winter Olympics, for the

1998 Nagano Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

closing ceremony and the opening ceremony of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. On November 22, 1997, Le May Doan became the first woman to break the 38-second barrier for the 500 m, skating 37.90 s in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Before the year was over, she had tied this record once and broken it twice, ending on 37.55 s. Within the next four years, she broke this record four more times, up to 37.22 s in Calgary, in December 2001. No other woman has set eight consecutive World Records in one distance. Between 7 January 2001 and 24 February 2001, Le May Doan was the only woman under the 38-second barrier, achieving it 14 times, including the eight times that she lowered the overall record. * 1. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,40 1

06-01-2001 * 2. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,55 1 Calgary 28-12-1997 * 3. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,57 1 Calgary 07-01-2001 * 4. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,71 1 Calgary 27-03-1998 * 5. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,71 1 Calgary 27-12-1997 * 6. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,86 1 Calgary 21-02-1999 * 7. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,88 1 Calgary 27-03-1998 * 8. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,89 1 Calgary 20-02-1999 * 9. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,90 1 Calgary 22-11-1997 *10. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,90 1 Calgary 23-11-1997 *11. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,90 1 Calgary 29-11-1998 *12. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,94 1 Calgary 18-11-2000 *13. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,97 1 Calgary 12-01-2000 *14. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,98 1 Calgary 13-02-1999 Le May Doan still had a long way to go before she started fighting for Olympic Gold and World Records. In the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, she fell on the 500 m and placed 17th on the 1,500 m as her best result. Prior to the Nagano Games, she was training with her teammate and rival Susan Auch, both being coached by Susan's brother, Derrick Auch. In 1998 Nagano, Susan Auch placed 2nd behind Catriona on the 500 m. Leading up to the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Le May Doan was coached by the Canadian sprint coach, former Olympic speed skater Sean Ireland. Le May Doan repeated her gold medal in the 500m at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics from the 1998 Nagano Olympics. She became the first Canadian to defend their gold medal at the Olympics. Le May Doan was married to Bart Doan, they separated in 2017. She has two children, Greta and Easton. In 2002, she published an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Going for Gold''.

After speedskating

Le May Doan retired from competitive skating in 2003, and in 2004 gave birth to her first child, Greta. She was a commentator for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

during the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens and was a member of the official Canadian contingent when

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

was chosen as the site of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

. She is a popular motivational speaker, and has been involved with

Campus Crusade for Christ Cru (until 2011 known as Campus Crusade for Christ—informally "Campus Crusade" or simply "crusade"—or CCC) is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by B ...

's ''Power to Change'' campaign. In 2005, she was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

, and inducted into the

Canadian Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, ...

. She provided

colour commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

for the

during the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

for Speed Skating, and was present to see her former teammates Cindy Klassen and

Clara Hughes Clara Hughes, (born September 27, 1972) is a Canadian cyclist and speed skater who has won multiple Olympic medals in both sports. Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals (one gold, one silver, two bronze) over the co ...

win their personal and national record achievements. She was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008 and was also a colour commentator for CTV at the

for the sport of Speed Skating. She was one of four torchbearers selected to light the interior cauldron in

BC Place BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently ...

at the

opening ceremonies An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

for the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was subsequently left out of the lighting when one of the arms to light the cauldron failed to rise due to mechanical problems. This was remediated, however, as part of the opening segment of the closing ceremonies when she lit the fourth arm of the cauldron. In November 2020 it was announced that Le May Doan would be the chef de mission for Team Canada at the

in Beijing.

Achievements

Personal records

Eng and Petersen 2005, p. 21.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Eng, Trond. ''All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 – 2002''. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002. * Eng, Trond and Preben Gorud Petersen. ''World All Time Best 2004/2005 – Ladies''. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2005. * Le May Doan, Catriona with Ken McGoogan. ''Going For Gold''. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: McClelland & Stewart Publishers, 2002.

Autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

External links

Catriona Le May Doan Official Site

Catriona Le May Doan at SkateResults.com

United Athletes Magazine
Le May Doan's Olympic experience. *

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le May Doan, Catriona 1970 births Canadian television sportscasters Canadian people of Scottish descent Living people Lou Marsh Trophy winners Officers of the Order of Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic speed skaters of Canada Sportspeople from Saskatoon Speed skaters from Calgary Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic cauldron lighters World record setters in speed skating Canadian female speed skaters Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Canadian women television personalities