Cycling Legend Clara Hughes

From Cycling To Speed Skating
While most athletes can only dream of perfecting their skills to the point where they can represent their country in the ultimate test of their abilities -- the Olympic Games, a precious few will have the skills and determination to excel in more than one sport and emerge Olympians twice in a lifetime. Canadian cyclist Clara Hughes did just that. After a highly successful career as a competitive cyclist (a career that included two Olympic bronze medals in Atlanta) she decided to try her luck in speed skating.


Smooth transition
While to some this transition may seem odd, it actually makes a lot of sense. Hughes actually began her athletic career with speed skating at the age of 16, but switched to cycling at age 17. Speed skaters and cyclists also have one thing in common: strong thighs. Add to that the discipline and determination of a committed athlete and you already have a head start in the race for perfection. The 32-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba has always been a fighter.


“I think God put each of us on the earth to be the best we can be, and if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,” she told reporters, during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She had already had an impressive cycling career by that point. Appearances (and two bronze medals) at the 1996 Olympics, the 1991, 1995 and 1999 Pan American Games and the 1994 Commonwealth Games. For a while there, she was tackling (and succeeding) in both sports. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Hughes won a gold medal, beating defending champion Anna Millward by less than a second. Only five months earlier, she had been accepting a bronze medal at the Winter Olympic Games, at Salt Lake City. Talk about multi-tasking!

Retirement from cycling
It didn't take her long to make her mark in the speed skating world. In the
2000/2001 season she participated in the World Single Distance Championships in Salt Lake City, where she finished 11th at the 3,000 m. The following season she qualified for the 2002 Winter Olympics. After placing 10th in the 3,000 m., she surprisingly won the bronze medal in the 5,000 m. just ahead of fellow Canadian Cindy Klassen. Most importantly, with her performance, she became the first Canadian in Olympic history -- and only the fourth athlete ever-- to reach the podium in both the Winter and Summer Games.

Eventually you can’t keep juggling two sports that demand a huge commitment of time and training and something had to “give”. Surprising many in the cycling community, Hughes decided to hang up her bike in 2003 and continue pursuing her first love. Irrelevant of what her future in speed skating holds, her remarkable past achievements in both sports, have proven beyond a doubt that Hughes is a champion for all seasons.


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