Clara Hughes

Clara Hughes, (born September 27, 1972) is a Canadian cyclist and speed skater who has won multiple Olympic medals in both sports.

These were the second and the third ever medals in road cycling for Canada, after Steve Bauer's silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and the first medals in cycling for a Canadian woman.

She was inspired to begin skating after witnessing Gaétan Boucher at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

She started with speed skating, but in 1990 she moved to competitive cycling, competing in track cycling and road cycling.

Hughes started speed skating at the age of 16, and then took up the sport of cycling at the age of 17.

A participant at the 1990, 1994 and 2002 Commonwealth Games, Hughes won gold in the time trial (road, 2002), bronze in the points race on the velodrome (2002), and silver in the 50 km team time trial (1994, with Alison Sydor, Anne Samplonius, and Lesley Tomlinson).

She participated at the 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games and won eight Pan American Games medals.

A four-time participant of the women's Tour de France, Hughes has won the 1994 Women's Challenge and the 1997 Liberty Classic.

Hughes, an 18-time Canadian national cycling champion, won the silver medal at the 1995, World Cycling Championships (time trial).

Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals (one gold, one silver, two bronze) over the course of three Winter Olympics.

Hughes is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games.

Hughes is one of only six people to have podium finishes in the Winter and Summer versions of the Games, and is the only person ever to have won multiple medals in both.

Hughes was the first Canadian woman to win a medal in road cycling at the Olympics, winning two in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

As a result of her success in multiple sports and her humanitarian efforts, Hughes was named to both the Order of Manitoba and as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

She is involved with Right To Play, which is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sports to encourage the development of youth in disadvantaged areas.

She would eventually return to the sport of speed skating at the age of 28, after achieving success in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

With her experience and endurance earned through cycling, Hughes went on to a successful career competing in the 3,000 m and 5,000 m. This would eventually lead her to medal in these long-distance events at the Winter Olympics.

Hughes participated in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, winning two bronze medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, in the individual road race and the individual time trial.

In the 2000/2001 season, Hughes made a successful comeback to speed skating, participating in the World Single Distance Championships in Salt Lake City, where she finished 11th in the 3000 m.

The following season, she qualified for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

After placing 10th in the 3000 m, she won the bronze medal in the 5000 m, just ahead of compatriot Cindy Klassen.

With this, she became the second speed skater to win medals in the Summer and Winter Games — Christa Luding-Rothenburger won a gold in the 1000 m speed skating and silver in the 1000 m cycling sprint in 1988.

She was named Female Athlete of the Year by Speed Skating Canada in 2004 for long track.

After winning her gold medal in 2006, she donated $10,000 to Right to Play.

Throughout her career Hughes received a number of other awards, trophies, and accolades.

In 2006, she received the International Olympic Committee's Sport and Community Trophy.

She was then named to the 2006 List of Most Influential Women in Sport and Physical Activity by the Canadian Association for Advancement of Women and Sport (CAAWS).

Hughes served as a commentator for cycling events for the CBC's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

In the summer of the year 2010, it was announced that she would receive a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame and on November 15, 2010, she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Hughes was born in Winnipeg, and is a graduate of Elmwood High School.

In an interview on CBC Radio show Definitely Not the Opera, Hughes reveals that as a youth, she smoked cigarettes, drank a lot at a young age and did a lot of drugs, admitting she did not envision herself as an athlete.

In November 2010, she announced a comeback, indicating her desire to race at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

As of 2011, these were the only three cycling medals for Canada.

At the 2011 Pan American Championships, Hughes won the individual time trial and road race, both by a big margin.

In May 2011, she took first in the Tour of the Gila, winning two stages.

In July 2011, she finished first in the inaugural Crusher in the Tushar in Beaver, Utah.

At the Chrono Gatineau time trials in May 2011, she finished first among an international slate of riders.

She then returned to cycling, at the age of 38, to later successfully return for the 2012 London Olympics.

In June 2012, she was selected to become part of Canada's 2012 London Olympics team, as one of four in cycling, with two other women and a man.

She finished 32nd, with the peloton, in the road race and finished 5th in the road time trial at the 2012 Olympics.