CANADIAN HEROES
Catriona Le May Doan

BIRTH DATE: December 23, 1970
BIRTH PLACE: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
RESIDENCE: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Catriona LeMay Doan is 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 500metre event. Catriona becomes the first Canadian individual to defend a Gold medal at any Olympic Games. She is also the world-record holder in this event and skated an Olympic record time of 37.30 in race one of the two-day competition. Catriona has broken the world record eight times.

In 1998, at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games, Catriona won her first Olympic Gold medal in the 500m distance also in an 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.

Catriona's accomplishments have twice (1998 & 2001) earned her the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year award.

Catriona's domination in the speed skating world continued in 1999. She had six first place finishes and remained first overall in the World Cup standings for the 500m event.

At the 2000/01 Canadian National Championships, she broke her world record in the 500m with a time of 37.40 seconds lowering her world standard of 37.55 set in 1997. Catriona continued to dominate in the 1000m, setting a Canadian record of 1:14.99, just four tenths off the world record time and bettering her time of 1:15.28 set in 1998. Catriona then went on to establish a world record for overall points to win the national sprint title.

The 2001 season proved to the world, this reigning Olympic Champion would be tough to beat. For a second time in the same year, Catriona broke her world record in the 500m with a time of 37.29 to capture the World Single Distance Championships, which were held in Salt Lake City, the site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. She also won the World Sprint Championships in the 500m and nine of the ten 500m races on the World Cup circuit to finish first overall in the World Cup standings. Catriona is now breaking records and establishing new marks at every event she competes in.

In an incredible 2002 season, Catriona captured the World, Olympic and World Cup champion title in the 500m distance. She broke her World Record in the 500m with a time of 37.22 at the World Cup race in Calgary. She has dominated at this distance over the past two seasons with a 20-race victory streak. For Catriona, "it was a dream season".

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. Her other interests include golf and horses. Born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Catriona lives in Calgary with her husband Bart and trains at the University of Calgary's Olympic Oval.