Catriona Le May Doan has a lengthy list of honours that others can only dream of.
Once crowned "the fastest woman on ice," she won two Olympic gold medals in speed skating, in 1998 and 2002, plus five World Championships. She's been named to the Order of Canada and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and she's been granted three honorary doctorates. Her latest achievement? At age 54, Le May Doan graduated this spring from the Business Management Certificate program at SFU Continuing Studies.
Photo courtesy Catriona Le May Doan
"I'm super proud that I accomplished this," she says with a wide grin. "I can't wait to receive my certificate, and I will display it proudly. My kids are pretty impressed, too, because they saw how hard I worked."
Since hanging up her skates, Le May Doan has enjoyed a successful and varied career, including sports broadcasting, motivational speaking, and serving as chef de mission for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Now she's the president and CEO of Sport Calgary, a non-profit promoting the benefits of sport for all Calgarians. Yet Le May Doan says she always had one regret: "I never finished my degree."
The Saskatchewan native had completed half her undergrad studies when her speed-skating career took her overseas. Eventually, everyone in her family had earned two university degrees except her. "My mother said, Well, you're the only one who has two Olympic medals. It's just different'," recalls Le May Doan.
Still, she'd long felt the urge to continue her studies someday. As she researched potential courses online, Le May Doan kept coming across feedback and reviews that brought her back to SFU. Three years ago, she signed up for one course, then enrolled in the full Continuing Studies certificate program.
"I think for my kids to see their mom go back to school in her fifties is great. Because we should all be lifelong learners. There's no age limit."
-Catriona Le May Doan
While not a degree, Le May Doan saw it as a step forward.
"I was ready to challenge myself," she says. "And, you know, it's okay if it's hard, but I think sometimes we can surprise ourselves with what we're capable of."
One surprise for Le May Doan was a finance course, which she confesses had "terrified" her. "Amazingly, I really enjoyed it!" she says. She recalls how the instructor put her at ease by explaining that the goal was simply to get comfortable with the concepts.
"Even now in all the work I do," she says, "some of this stuff comes back and I realize that I know more about it. I'm quite proud of myself for that."
Given Le May Doan's prominence in international sport, you might expect that classmates would have recognized the celebrity in their midst. But only a few took notice. "I think everybody was too young," she laughs.
While Le May Doan considered herself among the oldest students in her classes, she says she felt grateful for the diverse backgrounds of her peers. "I think we were all coming in pretty vulnerable, because we were all in different stages of life," she says. "Most of us were working and doing this as an addition. People were doing it for many different reasons, and it was really inspiring to hear their stories and journeys."
Now that she's officially graduated and earned SFU alumnus status, what's next?
"You know, I've never defined myself through sport," reflects Le May Doan. "It's something that I did well at the time, but now what? How do you turn around and help somebody else be better than they thought possible?
"And so, even accomplishing the certificate, I'm proud of that, because it's something that not a lot of people at 54 can say they did. But now what? If I can help encourage other people to be lifelong learners, that's one thing I can do with it."
Le May Doan remembers how her own mother was in her forties when she resumed her studies. "I think for my kids to see their mom go back to school in her fifties is great. Because we should all be lifelong learners. There's no age limit."
Catriona Le May Doan may no longer be the world's fastest woman on ice, but it's clear that she has no intention of ever standing still.
"The journey never ends," she smiles. "I always want to be moving forward."
