Kate O'Brien

Started: She began non-Para track cycling at age 25. (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017) Reason: She was encouraged to take up Para cycling by her physicist after recovering from her brain injury sustained in 2017. "I said, 'Okay, let's give this a shot', and it's been one of the best decisions that I've made. In my head there was this difference between non-Para and Para, but there really isn't. Everyone's an athlete, and they're all going super fast." (cyclingmagazine.ca, 30 Jan 2020) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympique.ca, 29 Jul 2024) Additional Info: NON-PARA OLYMPIAN She competed as a brakeman on the Canadian bobsleigh team from 2010 to 2015. She had hopes of competing at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi but a knee injury forced her to miss half of the season leading up to the Games. In search of a new career path, she came across a track cycling testing camp. She had been interested in the sport since watching the 2012 Olympic Games in London and went on to compete at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I would credit [my] natural power and strength to my years of training for bobsleigh." (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017; calgaryherald.com, 08 Aug 2016; teaminfinit.ca, 05 Aug 2015; thestar.com, 01 Jun 2015) SWITCH TO PARA CYCLING She competed in keirin, sprint, and team sprint at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She sustained her impairment in 2017 after crashing at Glenmore Velodrome in Calgary, AB, Canada, which led to her taking up Para cycling. Her first major competition in the sport was the 2020 World Championships in Milton, ON, Canada. "Following 2016, I was in a bit of a post-Olympic slump, as you get into, and wasn't super sure where I was going. And I thought that Tokyo, which was in the plan, that was what I was aiming for. I didn't ever think that it would be in the Paralympics. I didn't realise what a division there is between non-Para and Para. Not in a mean way or bad way. It's just there is a very distinct division between the two. That's a huge thing I would love to get across is Para athletes are also just athletes. We're all kind of the same." (cbc.ca, 28 Aug 2021)

Sporting Relatives: Her wife Meghan Grant has represented Canada in track cycling. (cbc.ca, 28 Aug 2021)