Le May Doan in 2010 at the Olympic Plaza in Calgary, Alberta |
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| Born | December 23, 1970 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
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| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb; 11 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Speed skating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Catriona Ann Le May Doan, OC (born December 23, 1970) is a Canadian speed skater and a double Olympic champion in the 500 m. The proper pronunciation of her first name is "Kah-TREE-O-nah".
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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:
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 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.
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.[1] This was remediated, however, as part of the opening segment of the closing ceremonies when she lit the fourth arm of the cauldron.
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| Distance | Result | Location | Date |
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| 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 |
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| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Jamie Salé & David Pelletier |
Lou Marsh Trophy winner 2002 |
Succeeded by Mike Weir |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by Stefania Belmondo |
Final Winter Olympic Torchbearer with Steve Nash, Nancy Greene, and Wayne Gretzky Vancouver 2010 |
Succeeded by TBA 2014 |