Heather Moyse (born July 23, 1978) is a Canadian athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist, representing Canada in international competition as a

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player, and

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

and competing at the Canadian intercollegiate level in rugby,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Awards

Moyse was a two-time Female Athlete of the Year at

Three Oaks Senior High School Three Oaks Senior High School (often abbreviated as TOSH) is a Canadian secondary school located in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Summerside, Prince Edward Island for students from the eastern part of Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Prin ...

in Summerside, Prince Edward Island where she competed in soccer, basketball, rugby and track and field. A graduate of the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

kinesiology program, she was inducted into that school's Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. Moyse received the Lieutenant-Governor's Award as P.E.I.’s outstanding athlete in 2006 and 2010, was named Prince Edward Island's Senior Female Athlete of the Year for 2005, 2006 and 2010 and has won ten Sport P.E.I. awards in total since 1998 . In 2010, Moyse and

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

pilot

Kaillie Humphries Kaillie Humphries (born Kaillie Simundson; September 4, 1985) is a Canadian-American bobsledder. Representing Canada, she was the 2010 and 2014 Olympic champion in the two-woman bobsled and the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist with brakewoman Phy ...

were nominated as Sportswoman of the Year by the American

Women's Sports Foundation The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit charity focused on female involvement in sports. Founded in 1974 by tennis player Billie Jean King and initially supported by Olympic athletes Donna de Varona and Suzy Chaffe ...

in the Team category. Heather also received the 2010

University of Waterloo Faculty of Applied Health Sciences The Faculty of Health (formerly Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, commonly abbreviated as "AHS"), is one of six faculties at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It has 183 staff and faculty members and over 2,700 full-tim ...

Young Alumni Award. On April 14, 2011 she was named 2010 Ontario Female Athlete of the Year, making her one of the only, if not the only, athletes to win the same award in two provinces in the same year. In 2012, she was named by

Sportsnet Magazine ''Sportsnet Magazine'' was a Canadian bi-weekly sports magazine published by Rogers Media in conjunction with its sports television channel Sportsnet. In January 2016 the magazine was redesigned as an online-only publication. History On June 9, 2 ...

as one of the 30 Most Beautiful Athletes on the Planet. In 2014, she was a recipient of the

Order of Prince Edward Island The Order of Prince Edward Island (french: Ordre de Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. Instituted in 1996 by Lieutenant Governor Gilbert Clements, on the advice of the Cabinet ...

Bobsleigh

In 2005–2006, her rookie bobsleigh season, Moyse and her partner

Helen Upperton Helen Lesley Upperton (born October 31, 1979) is a Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2002. Upperton was born in Ahmadi, Kuwait as her parents involvement in the oil industry meant they traveled abroad. She holds dual citizenship of bot ...

won the Canadian Championships and earned four medals on the World Cup circuit including a gold at an event in St. Moritz,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Heather also set push start records on five international tracks. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Moyse and Upperton finished in fourth place in the two-man bobsleigh event, missing bronze by five one-hundredths of a second behind the host Italian team. The pair set the push start record for the Olympic track with a 5.16-second start time in their first heat. After a one-year absence due to educational commitments, Moyse returned to the World Cup circuit in 2007–2008 as one of two brakeman for Canada 1 pilot Helen Upperton. In four races the duo earned a silver, bronze and two 5th-place finishes. At the 2008 World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, Moyse raced with Canada 3 pilot

Lisa Szabon Lisa Szabon (born March 21, 1982) and raised in Nanton, Alberta, is a Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2004. Her best Bobsleigh World Cup finish was eighth in the two-woman event twice ( Park City - December 2007, Winterberg - February ...

and the pair finished in 11th place. During the 2008–2009 World Cup season, Moyse returned from a serious shoulder injury (incurred while playing rugby for Canada). In her only race with Canada 1 pilot Upperton the duo won gold in Igls, Austria. Moyse and Canada 2 pilot

recorded a 5th in St. Moritz, silver in Whistler and 5th at the 2009 World Championships in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

. In four other races, Moyse did not race with any of Canada's three sleds. During the 2009–2010 World Cup season, Moyse & Humphries finished second overall behind only

Sandra Kiriasis Sandra Kiriasis ( Prokoff; born 4 January 1975 in Dresden) is a German former bobsledder who has competed from 2000 to 2014. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City she won silver in the two-woman event together with teammate Ulrike Holzn ...

and won four medals including gold in Altenberg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. They set or tied the track start record in every race in which they competed together. She won a gold medal in the Two-woman competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics with

. The silver medal was won by fellow Canadians

Shelley-Ann Brown Shelley-Ann Camille Brown (born March 15, 1980) is a former Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2006. She was born in Scarborough, Ontario to Jamaican immigrant parents, and also raised in nearby Pickering, Ontario. Brown was recruited t ...

and

. It marked the first time at the 2010 Olympics that Canadians had won two medals in one event. For winning the Gold Medal, Moyse was on the cover of Hello! Canada in March 2010. Moyse joins former

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

student-athlete

Jayna Hefford Jayna Hefford (born May 14, 1977) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and current chairperson of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. During her career, she won multiple medals at the Winter Olympics and IIHF World Women's ...

as the only University of Toronto graduates to claim a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Moyse missed the first half of the 2010–11 World Cup bobsleigh season due to an ankle injury suffered in the final game of the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup. Moyse returned to the Canadian Bobsleigh Team in the fall of 2013, earning a spot as the top brakeman on the 2014 Canadian Olympic team. Heather and

repeated as Olympic gold medallists at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, pulling ahead of rival USA 1, piloted by

Elana Meyers Elana Meyers Taylor (born Elana Alessandra Meyers; October 10, 1984) is an American Olympic bobsledder and World Champion who has competed since 2007. Born in Oceanside, California, Meyers Taylor was raised in Douglasville, Georgia and is a grad ...

and braked by

Lauryn Williams Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Champ ...

, on the final run of the four-heat competition. The pair became only the third Canadian Winter Olympians to repeat as gold medalists in a non-team sport and the only female gold medalists from the Vancouver Olympics to repeat as gold medalists in Sochi. Humphries and Moyse were also selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee as Canada's flagbearers in the closing ceremonies. Moyse retired from bobsleigh after the 2014 Olympics, however a couple of months before the start of the 2017–18 season she decided to return to the sport after push athlete-turned-pilot

Alysia Rissling Alysia Rissling (born November 16, 1988) is a Canadians, Canadian Bobsleigh, bobsledder. In 2015, she was the pilot for the first all-woman team in an official four-man bobsleigh race after the event became Gender neutrality, gender neutral. Sh ...

contacted her about it in August 2017, having turned down the opportunity to return to competition with Humphries the previous year. With Rissling as driver, the pair finished 6th in the two-woman bobsleigh event representing

Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics Canada competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25, 2018. It was the nation's 23rd appearance at the Winter Olympics, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1924. Canada competed in all ...

Start records

Leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Moyse held or had tied nine track start records with either

, including every track on the 2009–2010 World Cup circuit. Three of those records have since been broken. Moyse also won the 2013 World Push Championships, held in Calgary,

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 ...

, Canada in November 2013. Start records held by Heather Moyse:. * Calgary – 5.45 in Nov 2013 with

Cesana Cesana Torinese (French ''Césanne'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, on the border with France. Cesana is a popular winter ski resort, being connect ...

– 5.16 at 2006 Olympics with

(tied by

and

in 2009) *

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

– 5.20 in 2009 with

, current record of 5.10 held by

and

Aja Evans Aja L. Evans (born 12 May 1988) is an American Olympic medalists bobsledder (Two-woman) who competes as a brakeman. At her Chicago public high school she was an All-American track & field City Champion in sprints and shot put. As a college athlete ...

of the USA * Lake Placid – 5.46 in 2009 with

, current non-World Cup record held by

and

of the USA * Winterberg – 5.51 in 2014 with

* Altenberg – 5.74 in 2009 with

Königssee The Königssee is a natural lake in the extreme southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Berch ...

– 5.25 in 2010 with

, current record 5.20 in 2013 by

and

of the USA *

Igls Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a po ...

– 5.50 in Jan 2010 with

* Whistler – 5.11 twice at 2010 Olympics with

, tied by

and Lolo Jones in Nov 2012, non-World Cup record broken again by Humphries and Moyse with a 5.07 start at 2013 Canadian Championships held in October 2013

Career highlights

;Olympics: :2006 –

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, 4th with

:2010 –

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 ...

, 1st with

:2014 – Sochi, 1st with

;World Championships: :2008 – Altenberg, 11th with

:2009 – Lake Placid, 5th with

:2011 –

, 3rd with

:2011 –

, 3rd with

(team event) ;World Cup: :2005 – Calgary, 3rd with

:2005 –

, 2nd with

:2006 –

, 2nd with

:2006 – St. Moritz, 1st with

:2008 – Cortina d'Ampezzo, 2nd with

:2008 – St. Moritz, 3rd with

:2008 –

, 1st with

:2009 – Whistler, 2nd with

:2009 – Lake Placid, 3rd with

:2009 – Altenberg, 1st with

:2010 –

, 2nd with

:2010 –

, 3rd with

:2013 – Calgary, 1st with

:2013 –

, 2nd with

:2013 – Lake Placid, 1st with

:2014 – St. Moritz, 1st with

Rugby union

Moyse represented Canada's national rugby team at both the 2006 and 2010

Women's Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing ...

. Moyse is considered one of the best fullbacks in the game. She has also been a member of the

Canadian national The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

women's sevens team and represented Canada at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, winning a silver medal. At the 2010

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where Canada finished sixth, Moyse and tournament most valuable player Carla Hohepa of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

tied as the leading try scorers with seven tries each. At the 2008

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

tournament, Moyse was the leading scorer in the women's tournament with 11 tries in just 4 matches, including three in Canada's semifinal win over

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and Canada's only try in their 21–7 final loss to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. At the 2006

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, where Canada finished fourth, Moyse was Canada's only tournament all-star and the overall leading scorer in the tournament in terms of both points and tries with 35 points and 7 tries in five matches. Moyse also starred in the CIS, now known as

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

. At the

, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Honours

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

, Moyse was selected as team Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, a three time CIS All Canadian and was an integral part of a team that won the OUA Silver medal and the first ever CIAU Bronze medal for Waterloo. At the

, where she completed a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in occupational therapy, Moyse led the Varsity Blues rugby team to the 2004 CIS national final where she was a tournament all-star and was again named a first-team All-Canadian during her fifth and final year of eligibility.

Honours and recognition

In 2016, she was inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

at a ceremony that also marked the opening of the Hall's first-ever physical location in

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. She was the first Canadian woman and the second Canadian overall, after Gareth Rees, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. * 2006, the only Canadian on the Rugby World Cup All-World team * 2006, World Cup tournament leading tryscorer (7 tries) * Named to the All-Canadian CIS team three times

Cycling

In 2012, Moyse represented Canada in her third international sport when she competed in the Pan-American Cycling championships in Argentina. Despite having only taken up the sports in 2011 and never having raced on an outdoor track, Moyse finished 4th in the 500m time trial at 36.207 seconds and fifth in the match sprint competition. In June 2012 Pro Cycling U.S. Grand Prix of Sprinting in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Track

Moyse represented

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

as a sprinter at the 1997

Canada Games The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...

in Brandon, Manitoba and still holds the PEI Senior Ladies record in

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. She held the PEI Senior Ladies record in the 200m from 1996 until 2013. At the

, she competed for four years at the CIAU Championships and amassed ten

OUA Oua is an islet on the north-east of Nukufetau atoll, Tuvalu, next to Lafanga Lafanga or Lafaga is an islet of Nukufetau, Tuvalu. The traditional history of Nukufetau recalls that in order to protect the atoll from raiders from Tonga Tong ...

medals and 2 CIAU bronze medals in her career. During the 2000 OUA championship, Moyse won a 300M gold and 60M silver to lead Waterloo to a third-place medal and was named the OUA Track MVP. She also set five university track records, four of which stood as of September 2012. Moyse was named Waterloo's Track & Field and Overall Female Rookie of the Year in 1996–97 and Women's Track & Field Team MVP in 1997–98.

Soccer

In 1996–97, Moyse played one year of varsity soccer for the

while also competing in track & field.

Sponsorship

Heather Moyse, PEI Potatoes Brand Ambassador

Heather Moyse serves as a Brand Ambassador for Prince Edward Island Potatoes. In this role, she has represented the PEI potato industry at events and promoted potatoes through social media and conventional media.Prince Edward Island Potato Board

References

External links

Heather Moyse, taking nothing for granted
on IRB.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moyse, Heather 1978 births Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Canadian female bobsledders Canada women's international rugby union players Canadian female rugby union players Canadian people of Acadian descent Canadian rugby union players Canadian female cyclists Female rugby union players Living people Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Members of the Order of Prince Edward Island Olympic bobsledders of Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in bobsleigh People from Summerside, Prince Edward Island Rugby union fullbacks Sportspeople from Prince Edward Island University of Waterloo alumni World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Canada international women's rugby sevens players

Awards

Bobsleigh

Start records

Career highlights

Rugby union

Honours and recognition

Cycling

Track

Soccer

Sponsorship

See also

References

External links