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Heather Moyse helped make Canadian Olympic history as she became one of two people to win Canada's first gold medal in the Bobsled competition.
However, anybody who has been following Moyse her entire career knows that this is no surprise.
Moyse was born July 23, 1978 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island and has been competiting in the bobsled competition since 2005.
Right from the beginning of the competition in the 2005-2006 season, Moyse showed that her strength along with her partner Helen Upperton. Together they won the Canadian Championship, earned four medals in the World Cup circuit, (including gold at an event in St. Moritz, Switzerland) and set push start records on five international tracks.
This earned them a spot in the 2006 Winter Olympics, where Moyse and Upperton finished in forth, missing bronze by five one-hundredths of a second behind the host Italian team.
Despite not winning a medal, the pair set the push start record for the Olympic track with a 5.16 second start time in their first heat.
Moyse took a one year absence due to educational reasons, though came back strong in the 2007-2008 season as one of the two brakemen for Canada. In the four races she competed in with Upperton, she earned a silver, bronze and two fifth place finishes. In the 2008 World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, she raced with Canada 3 pilot Lisa Szabon and had her worst finish of 11th.
She returned for the 2008-2009 season, despite a serious shoulder injury that occurred while playing rugby. In her only race with Canada 1 pilot Upperton, she won gold in Igls, Austria. Moyse teamed up with Canada 2 pilot Kaillie Humphries for the first time and recorded a fifth in St. Mortiz, silver in Whistler and fifth at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid, New York. Though with her injury, she missed four other races.
For the 2009-2010 World Cup season, Moyse teamed up with Humphries. Together, they finished second overall behind only Sandra Kiraisis, won four medals including a gold in Altenberg, Germany. They also set or tied the track start record in every race in which they were together.
Start records held by Heather Moyse (as listed by Wikipedia):
• Cesana - 5.16 in 2006 with Helen Upperton (tied by Kaillie Humphries and Shelley-Ann Brown in 2009)
• Park City - 5.20 in 2009 with Kaillie Humphries
• Lake Placid - 5.46 in 2009 with Kaillie Humphries (tied with Erin Pac and Michelle Rzepka of the USA)
• Winterberg - 5.54 in 2009 with Kaillie Humphries
• Altenberg - 5.74 in 2009 with Kaillie Humphries
• Königssee - 5.25 in 2010 with Kaillie Humphries
• Igls - 5.50 in 2010 with Kaillie Humphries
• Calgary - 5.60 in 2005 with Helen Upperton (no World Cup race since 2007-2008)
For her success in not only bobsledding but also rugby, soccer, and track and field, she has been honored multiple times.
She was inducted into the University of Waterloo Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award as P.E.I’s Outstanding Athlete in 2006, was named Prince Edward Island’s Senior Female Athlete of the Year for both 2005 and 2006, and has won seven Sport P.E.I awards in total since 1998.
Moyse always pushes herself to do strongly in any sport she competes in.
“As much as we want to do well for Canada, Canada can put no more pressure on us than we are putting on ourselves,’” said Moyse.
She lived up to the pressure and pushed herself hard as she had one of her memorable races yet, winning gold for her country.
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