Career

Speed skating

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, of Scottish ancestry, Le May Doan won the Olympic 500 m title at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and she repeated this feat at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, giving rise to the title "the fastest woman on ice". At the Nagano Olympics, she also won a bronze on the 1,000 m. She was World Sprint Champion 1998 and 2002 and World Champion 500 m 1998, 1999, and 2001, and she won a 500 m bronze in 2000. She has 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).

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, Alberta. Before the year was over, she had tied this 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. No other woman has set eight consecutive World Records in one distance. Between 7 January 2001 and 24 February 2001, Le May Doan even had the 14 best times ever skated on that distance:

• 1. Catriona Le May-Doan CAN 37,40 1 Calgary 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

Le May Doan still had a long way to go before she started fighting for Olympic Gold and World Records. In the 1994 Winter Olympics, she fell on the 500 m and placed 17th on the 1,500 m as her best result. Prior to the Nagano Games, she was training with her teammate and rival Susan Auch, both being coached by Susan's brother, Derrick Auch. In Nagano, Susan Auch placed 2nd behind Catriona on the 500 m. She is now coached by the Canadian sprint coach, former Olympic speed skater Sean Ireland.

Le May Doan repeated her gold medal in the 500m at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics from the 1998 Nagano Olympics. She became the first Canadian to defend their gold medal at the Olympics.

Le May Doan is married to Bart Doan, a rodeo cowboy and icemaker at the Olympic Oval, and cousin of NHL hockey player Shane Doan. In 2002 she published an autobiography, Going for Gold.

After speedskating

Le May Doan retired from competitive skating in 2003, and in 2004 gave birth to her first child, Greta. She was a commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and was a member of the official Canadian contingent when Vancouver, British Columbia was chosen as the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Le May Doan is also a popular motivational speaker, and has been involved with Campus Crusade for Christ's Power to Change campaign.

In 2005, Le May Doan was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Le May Doan provided colour commentary for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 2006 Winter Olympics for Speed Skating, and was present to see her former teammates Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes win their personal and national record achievements.

Le May Doan was also a colour commentator for CTV at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver for the sport of Speed Skating.

Le May Doan was one of the four torchbearers selected to light the interior cauldron in BC Place at the opening ceremonies 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, however, as part of the opening segment of the closing ceremonies when she lit the fourth arm of the cauldron.

Achievements

1996 Gold- 1996 World Sprint Championship, 500 m, Heerenveen, Netherlands 1997 First Overall- 1997/98 World Cup Standings 500 m Gold- 1997 World Cup, 500 m, Roseville, Minnesota Silver- 1997 World Cup, 500 m, Roseville, Minnesota Gold- 1997 World Cup, 1000 m, Roseville, Minnesota Gold- 1997 World Cup, 500 m, Calgary, Alberta Gold- 1997 World Cup, 500 m, Calgary, Alberta Gold- 1997 World Cup, 1000 m, Calgary, Alberta Silver- 1997 World Cup, 1000 m, Calgary, Alberta Gold- 1996/97 Canadian Sprint Championship, Overall Silver- 1997 World Sprint Championship, 500m, Hamar, Norway Bronze- 1997 World Cup, 500 m, Innsbruck, Austria 1998 Gold- 1998/99 World Cup, 500 m, Seoul, Korea Gold- 1998/99 World Cup, 500 m, Nagano, Japan Gold- 1998/99 World Cup, 1000 m, Nagano, Japan Gold- 1998 Winter Olympic Games, 500 m, Nagano, Japan Bronze- 1998 Winter Olympic Games, 1000 m, Nagano, Japan Olympic Record- 1998 Winter Olympic Games 500 m (38.21 s) 1998- Canadian Female Athlete of the Year First Overall- 1998 World Cup Standings 500 m First Overall- 1998 World Cup Standings 1000 m Gold- 1998 World Single Distance Championships, 500 m, Calgary Silver- 1998 World Single Distance Championships, 1000 m, Calgary Gold- 1998 World Cup, 500 m, West Allis, Wisconsin Gold- 1998 World Cup, 500 m, West Allis, Wisconsin World Record- 1998 Canadian Olympic Trials 500 m (37.55 s) World Champion- 1998 World Sprint Championship, Berlin, Germany Gold- 1998 World Cup, 500 m, Baselga di Pine, Italy Gold- 1998 World Cup, 500 m, Baselga di Pine, Italy Silver- 1998 World Cup, 1000 m, Baselga di Pine, Italy 1999 Gold- 1999 World Single Distance Championships, 500 m, Heerenveen, Netherlands Bronze- 1999 World Single Distance Championships, 1000 m, Heerenveen, Netherlands First Overall- 1999 World Cup Standings, 500 m Third Overall- 1999 World Cup Standings, 1000 m World Champion- 1999 World Sprint Championships, 500 m, Calgary Gold- 1999 World Cup, 500 m, Berlin, Germany

2000 Gold- 2000/01 World Cup, 500 m, Nagano, Japan Gold- 2000/01 World Cup, 500 m, Seoul, Korea Bronze- 2000 World Single Distance Championships, 500 m, Nagano, Japan Silver- 2000 World Cup, 500 m, Calgary Silver- 2000 World Cup, 500 m, Butte, Montana Silver- 2000 World Cup, 1000 m, Butte, Montana First Overall- 2000 Canadian Sprint Championships 2001 2001- Canadian Female Athlete of the Year World Record- 2001 World Single Distance Championships 500 m (37.29 s) First Overall- 2001 World Cup Standings, 500 m World Record- 2001 Canadian National Championships 500 m (37.40 s) World Record- 2001 Canadian National Championships Overall: Points (150.085) Gold- 2001 World Single Distance Championships, 500 m, Salt Lake City, Utah Bronze- 2001 World Single Distance Championships, 1000 m, Salt Lake City, Utah World Champion- 2001 World Sprint Championships, 500 m, Inzell, Germany First Overall- 2001 Canadian Sprint Championships Gold- 2001 World Cup, 1000 m, Calgary Gold- 2001 World Cup, 500 m, Calgary Gold- 2001 World Cup, 500 m, Heerenveen, Netherlands Gold- 2001 World Cup, 1000 m Heerenveen, Netherlands Gold- 2001 World Cup, 500 m, Helsinki, Finland Silver- 2001/02 World Cup, 1000 m, Calgary Gold- 2001/02 World Cup, 500 m, Salt Lake City, Utah 2002 Gold- 2002 Winter Olympic Games, 500 m, Salt Lake City, Utah Olympic Record- 2002 Winter Olympic Games, 500 m (37.30 s), Salt Lake City, Utah World Champion- 2002 World Sprint Championships, 500 m, Hamar, Norway 2002- Lou Marsh Award as Canada's Athlete of the Year 2002- Canadian Female Athlete of the Year World Record- 2001/02 World Cup, 500 m (37.22 s) Calgary First Overall- 2002 World Cup Standings 500 m Gold- 2002 World Cup, 500 m, Inzell, Germany Gold- 2002 World Cup, 100 m, Inzell, Germany Gold- 2002 World Cup, 500 m, Heerenveen, Netherlands Gold- 2001/02 World Cup, 500 m, Calgary

Personal records

Distance	Result	Location	Date
500 m	37.22	Calgary	9 December 2001
1,000 m	1:14.50	Salt Lake City	10 March 2001
1,500 m	1:57.50	Calgary	16 March 2001
3,000 m	4:26.98	Calgary	21 March 2003
5,000 m	8:14.52	Calgary	19 December 1993

[ Source: Wikipedia ]