Tips from an Olympian: You’ll never regret trying something new
When Kelsey Mitchell was 23, it had been 11 years since she’d owned a bike. Yep, she was 12 when she’d last owned one.
So, naturally, at the age of 24, Mitchell won the women’s cycling sprint title at the 2018 Canadian championships, won gold in the 2019 Pan American Games, brought home gold from the 2019 Pan American Track Cycling Championships, where she broke the world record in the 200-metre track sprint, and became the Olympic champion in the sprint at the Summer Games in Tokyo 2020.
And this summer, she’ll once again be competing at the Olympic Games.
Wait, what? How does a person go from being a non-cyclist to a world champion in the blink of an eye?
Growing up in Fort McMurray, Alta., Kelsey Mitchell was active. She participated in soccer, gymnastics, ringette, basketball, judo, volleyball, handball, badminton, and track and field. She also played varsity soccer through university.
Once she completed university, Mitchell knew that she wanted to continue in athletics but didn’t know where to turn to restart her life in sport. She then heard about, and participated in, RBC Training Ground and her life changed forever.
The program travels the country each year looking for athletes between the ages of 14 and 25 with Olympic potential. “I attended at the age of 23, with the hope of just being an athlete again,” Mitchell says. “I was open to any sport and all I was looking for was an opportunity and someone to believe in me.”
A Cycling Canada representative immediately noticed Mitchell’s leg power on a vertical jump assessment and asked her to test on a watt bike. Unknowingly, Mitchell exceeded the national standard.
From there, her career took off at a rapid pace: Canadian, Pan Am, and Olympic champion, as well as a world-record breaker in cycling. These achievements might not have been exactly what Mitchell had imagined when she first competed at RBC Training Ground. But she was motivated, and she was talented. And she was willing and open to trying something new.
Her message to the next generation of athletes is a simple but powerful one: “If I can do it, they can too.”
Kelsey Mitchell’s tips for parents & kids
- The more variety of sports and physical activities, the better. Let kids be kids. Learning to run and jump and move their body in all different ways will help them learn and develop more in whatever sport they end up specializing in at an older age. I think trying something new at any age can be a daunting task. But, as a kid, if you have experience playing a variety of sports, the fear or hesitation to join a new sport at an older age, or even go back to a sport they used to play is a bit less scary. I think being an active, healthy adult comes from being a healthy and active kid. Start ‘em young and keep ‘em active!
- Stay active. Whether it be the Olympics or their high school soccer team, the desire and push to have people stay active for as long as possible should be the goal. People need to find what motivates them and what keeps them wanting to stay involved in sports. From team sport to individual sports, so many good life lessons can be learned.
- You’ll never regret trying something. Everything happens for a reason and life has a funny way of working out. I believe people are presented with different opportunities throughout their lives and if you have that mindset and are mentally ready to take a chance and go all, then the world is your oyster. In your sport, in your career, in your life, in everything, you’ll never regret going after your dream. And if it doesn’t work out exactly how you imagined, you will grow and learn so much along the way.
Kelsey Mitchell has written and illustrated a fantastic, fun and free colouring book to teach kids all about all the Olympic summer sports that will be played this summer in Paris. Check it out right here.
Photo: Christian Bender/Canadian Olympic Committee
