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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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

and a double Olympic champion in the 500 m. She served as the chef de mission for

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics ** Canadian Olympic Committee * Canada at the Paralympics ** Canadian Paralympic Committee * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at ...

at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

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. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. She repeated the feat at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

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

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

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 a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. Before the year was over, she had tied the 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. 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 In the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, Le May Doan fell on the 500 m and placed 17th on the 1,500 m. Prior to Nagano, she was training with her teammate and rival

Susan Auch Susan Margaret Auch (born March 1, 1966) is a Canadian former speed skater who competed in five Winter Olympics, winning bronze in the 3000m relay at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and the silver in the 500 m events at the 1994 Winter Olym ...

, both being coached by Susan's brother, Derrick Auch. In 1998, Susan Auch placed second behind Le May Doan on the 500 m. Leading up to the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Le May Doan was coached by Sean Ireland. Le May Doan repeated her gold medal in the 500m at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. She became the first Canadian to defend their gold medal at the Olympics.

After speedskating

Le May Doan retired from competitive skating in 2003. She was a commentator for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

during the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

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 cit ...

was chosen as the site of the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. 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 ...

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

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, and inducted into the

Canadian Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; 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, it serves as a hall of fame and muse ...

. Le May Doan 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 person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

during the

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

for speed skating. She was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008 and was also a colour commentator for CTV at the

. 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 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. In June 2023, Le May Doan was appointed Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Calgary.

Personal life

Le May Doan was married to Bart Doan. They separated in 2017. She has two children, Greta and Easton. In 2002, Le May Doan published an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, ''Going for Gold''.

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, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

External links

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le May Doan, Catriona 1970 births Canadian television sportscasters Canadian people of Scottish descent Living people Northern Star Award winners Officers of the Order of Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic speed skaters for 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 20th-century Canadian sportswomen 21st-century Canadian sportswomen Canadian Screen Award winning sportscasters