“IT’S MY DREAM”
C atriona Le May Doan, who was known for much of her speed skating career as the Fastest Woman on Ice, wouldn’t dare set foot in a bobsleigh. She wouldn’t line up atop a mountain and ski an alpine course, either. Le May Doan has her limits.
But the two-time Olympic gold medallist will be doing something she’s never done before in Beijing, and that’s acting as Canada’s chef de mission. This will mark the 11th trip to the Games for Le May Doan, who competed four times, went five times as a member of the media and most recently in 2018 served as Canada’s lead athlete mentor.
As she prepared to fly over, the 51-year-old spoke to Sportsnet about a range of topics, including that chef role, the challenges the pandemic presents, the lengthy list of Olympic events she’s too scared to try, this Canadian team and her skating days.
SPORTSNET: What would your time be if you raced the 500-metre tomorrow?
LE MAY DOAN: Oh good lord, I have no idea! [Laughs.] That’s one thing I said when I knew I was retiring. My last race was actually a 3,000m because I said, ‘I am finishing my career with a personal best.’ So I finished my racing career with a 3000m and I got a PB. So, I will just inform everybody that I will never actually race again.
OK, but in case you change your mind. Your best time was 37.22. Could you beat 45 seconds?
I think I’d be better than that, actually. I have to give myself more credit. I wouldn’t be under 40. [Laughs.] I’m over 50, I like my red wine. [But] I try to keep kinda fit.
When was the last time you skated?
After 2018, I came back and I was reinvigorated. I had been skating quite a bit, but it’s really tough, because you can’t just speed skate at any time, you have to get the ice time. Last year the oval was shut down. I’m on hockey skates all the time but actual speed skates, it’s been a while.
What position do you play in hockey?
I’m more of a D-person. My daughter plays high level ringette, AA. She’s 17. My son is 14 and he plays under-15 AAA hockey, so I get to learn a lot from watching both of them. And they now kick my butt in skating. I’m sort of the lowest on the totem pole in the family.
I can’t believe that.
Oh, it’s true! [Laughs.]
How would you finish this sentence? “Being Canada’s chef de mission during a pandemic is…”
Well, you know what, as soon as you start a sentence with ‘being Canada’s chef’ I will say it’s my dream. Maybe take out the pandemic [laughs]. It’s a tough sentence written like that because we can’t change situations. But it’s always been my dream to be chef and it’s the environment that we’re faced with, so we sort of confront it head on. We can’t change it.
What’s been the best part so far about this role for you?
I think what I was looking forward to the most is just being at the Games, finally being there. But it’s just the fact that I can give any sort of guidance to the athletes, to the team. I never had to deal with a pandemic, but we dealt with situations. I think people forget that Salt Lake City was five months after 9/11 … Being able to show our nation that, “Hey, these athletes are dealing with the normal struggles that everybody’s dealing with, and yet they’re continuing to pursue the role of representing themselves and their country.” Being able to show my kids that it’s a tough situation but I’m wanting to do this and help others. There’s been various great things about it.
A few chefs have described the role as cheerleading. Do you see it that way?
Oh goodness yes, and I can’t wait to watch the athletes compete. We know in the entire world, every single person is dealing with struggles, but for the athletes, once we get to Beijing, that’s sort of a check mark, celebration No. 1. And then to watch them compete? Hopefully when we get there, there are no issues and my role is to step aside. The focus needs to be on the athletes. It’s their opportunity. I do a monthly chef update, and I’ll remind them every time I talk to them: This is their story. And each of their stories is different, but tell your story and embrace that story. Because it’s part of them, it’s part of their journey.
What event are you most excited to watch live?
That’s like asking which of my kids I like the best [laughs]. I love sport at every single level. I love the city championships when you see people giving their all. I think that’s why my daily life revolves around sport, my daily work, my volunteer work, being a mom, I’m back to sport playing old lady hockey, old lady ringette. I just love sport. I don’t thrive on the competition side. I never had my best races at a Games. I don’t love that big pressure. But I love hard work. I love when people walk away from their event, regardless of the level, and say, ‘That was as good as I could be.’ That’s success. People talk about medals, but all I hope for is that every athlete can walk away from their day of competition and say: ‘That was as good as I could be on that day.’ And wow, let’s celebrate that.
You’ll probably find yourself at the men’s 500m long track speed skating, watching Laurent Dubreuil [the reigning world champion, from Levis, Que.]. Right?
I can’t make every event. But hopefully! It’s been such a joy to watch Laurent. His mom and dad are both Olympians, and I skated with them. He’s been having a great year and the long track team is in good hands. Obviously, I have a soft spot for long track, but again, it’s for all of the athletes. We often say you dare to wear the Maple Leaf, because honestly, with that comes the scrutiny of being on the stage. They dare to do that and it’s beautiful and I’m proud of every one of them.
What Winter Olympic sport do you look at and think, I wouldn’t dare to do that?
Oh, tons of them. When I was out in Lake Louise watching the alpine team [last year], I was like ‘Oh my goodness!’ They ski on pure ice! Downhill and over 100 kilometres an hour. No way. Ski jumping? No way. I’ve been offered to go in a bobsled and go down a track. I said no. So any of the sliding sports, no. Snowboard? No. Big air? No chance. [Laughs.] You know what? I’m not a daredevil, not one single bit.
You said you don’t like pressure. What advice do you give to athletes about how to deal with that Olympic pressure?
It’s about breaking it down into steps. What we often do is we think to an end result. For me I would think, 37 seconds, what’s going to happen?
We think too far forward. We must have goals that we work towards, but then we have to break it down. That, to me, is in everything we do. We overcomplicate things. I’ve had a couple conversations with athletes about how you get up for an event if there are no people in the stands? And it’s interesting because it’s a different perspective. That would’ve been my dream [laughs] to have empty stands and just skate by myself.
It’s how do you get to that level? How do you get up or how do you calm down? For our winter athletes pretty much most of this year it’s been in a bubble, a lot of time to compete without fans. Whether there’ll be fans in the stands with this new variant, I don’t know, but that shouldn’t change their performance. It’s the simple stuff, because they’ve done all the work, now it’s down to simple things.
What’s the most important message you can give to athletes competing in Beijing?
Trust in yourself. Trust in the process, because I’ll tell you what, as soon as you stress, you start to question everything. And embrace it. It’s an experience of a lifetime. And every Games is different, every Games has its own spirit. Be proud.
When people see you in public, do they relive your Olympic gold medal races with you?
One hundred precent. Yeah, and I love it, because that’s why we do it, is to inspire others.
Do you get recognized a lot when you’re home in Calgary — or in Saskatoon, where you grew up?
Let’s be honest, the place I probably get recognized the most is Holland. That’s the truth. [Editor’s note: Holland is speed skating-obsessed.] It happens in various places. I’ve worked hard in a way to stay relevant, but also I’m a normal person, so people see me at my best and people see me at my worst. I live a normal life. I struggle with tons of things. I’m a single mom of two kids. We’re dealing with family health issues. It’s just real.
And that’s what I love is that I think people sometimes think that Olympians and Olympic champions live a different life. We live in the real world and I’ve never shied away from that, and that’s what I try to teach my kids. To me it doesn’t matter what you accomplish, it’s what you do afterwards. How are you going to help others to be their best? And that’s what my mom taught me is never let what you achieve change who you are. Never.