Heroes & Stars
The spirit of Alberta shines through our people; people who inspire each other to realize possibilities and every-day people who become our heroes and stars.
Heroes
Mellissa Hollingsworth
Sport: Skeleton
Hometown: Eckville, Alberta
Born: October 1980
Skeleton athlete Mellissa Hollingsworth bold states her Olympic ambitions.
“I no longer hit the start line to participate in races,” she writes on the home page of her website. “I’m now focused on sliding to the podium and winning each time I put on the Canadian uniform.”
When Hollingsworth puts on her uniform for the Olympic Games in Vancouver, she’ll be wearing the number one bib, a reflection of her number one ranking in the world.
“I have high expectations for myself for that race," Hollingsworth said to the Calgary Herald in January. "I'm not naive. I understand. I know what all of Canada's expectations are.”
On Feb. 3, 2010, the Herald named Hollingsworth as one of Canada’s top 10 medal prospects at Vancouver Games. The Montreal Gazette describes her “the hottest item on ice.” Plus, Hollingsworth is a World Champion in skeleton and earned a bronze medal at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy.
All eyes (and hopes) will be on Hollingsworth when she explodes out of the starting blocks and onto her sled (which she calls White Lightning) on Feb. 18 and 19.
When not hurling herself head-first down near-vertical chutes of ice, the 29-year-old native of Eckville, Alta. is a high-profile speaker and shares her perspective on sports and athletes with people from across Canada. Among her topics: the potential of small-town kids who have the ability to dream and set goals; using failure as motivation; the power of Plan B and the importance of inches.
An active community volunteer and humanitarian, Hollingsworth is an athlete ambassador for Right to Play and a spokesperson for Unicef. She recently travelled to Ghana, Africa with Right to Play.
Read more about Mellissa Hollingsworth (and her gold-medal style) in the February 2010 issue of Calgary’s Avenue magazine at http://www.avenuemagazine.ca/.
More background:
• Grew up on family farm in central Alberta riding horses and watching rodeo
• Cousin Ryan Davenport, a two-time World Skeleton Champion, introduced her to sport of skeleton
• Extensively involved in charity and community humanitarian causes
• Is an athlete ambassador for Right To Play and spokesperson for UNICEF and recently travelled to Ghana, Africa with Right to Play
• Recently on public speaking circuit and to speak about her causes and sport with Canada’s political leaders, corporate executives and other groups
Milestones:
• Canada’s first and only female Olympic medallist in skeleton: won bronze-medal winner at 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy
• Third overall in 2008 World Cup standings
• Third at 2008 World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland
• First at 2008 Canadian Championships in Calgary
• Second at 2007 World Cup in Calgary
• First overall in 2006 World Cup standings
• First at 2006 World Cup in Calgary
• Second at 2006 World Cup in Lake Placid, New York
• Second at 2006 World Cup in Igls, Austria
• Third at 2006 World Cup in Sigulda, Latvia
