Vancouver 2010 Olympic Champion

Kaillie Humphries is currently the Canada 1 pilot with the Women’s National Bobsleigh Team. She is the current Olympic Champion at only 24 years of age, and is the first ever Olympic Gold Medalist (pilot) for Canada in the sport of Women’s Bobsleigh. This past season (2009/10) Kaillie continued the success she has had in her previous years finishing on the podium in 4 of 8 World Cup races, ending the season with her 2nd Gold medal of the year during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Her and Heather set 6 new start records, she set 2 new track records through out the season, and finished 2nd overall in the World Cup Standings.

Last year, the 2008/09 season, Kaillie continued the success she had in her rookie year with two silver medals, and set a new track record on her first run of World Championships, matching her 5th place result in the overall world standings. The 2007 – 08 season was Kaillie’s rookie season on the World Cup circuit as a driver. Her 5th place ranking overall is the highest a first year North American driver, either female or male, has ever attained at this level in the 100-year history of the sport. In 2006 – 07 as a first year driver on the Europa Cup circuit, Kaillie dominated and completed the season first overall, along with a silver medal at the World Junior Championships. Kaillie first appeared on the bobsleigh scene as an 18 year old brakeman in the 2003 – 04 World Cup season. At the end of the season she ranked 3rd in the World, again an outstanding performance as a first year slider. She was named to the 2006 Olympic Team as an alternate brakeman, after coming back from an injury sustained during World push Championships in the summer of 2005. Kaillie is a stronger believer in the adages that “Success is a Journey” and “The only time success appears before work is in a dictionary.” This is the makeup of Kaillie as an athlete and as a person.

2009/10 season
5th- World Cup, Salt Lake City 2009
3rd- World Cup, Lake Placid 2009 ²
5th- World cup, Winterberg 2009 ²
1st- World Cup, Altenberg 2009 ² ³
2nd- World Cup, Konigssee 2010 ²
4th- World Cup, St.Moritz 2010 ²
3rd- World Cup, Igls 2010 ²
2nd- Overall World Cup ranking
1st- Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver 2010 ² ³

2008/09 Season
5th- World Cup, Konigssee 2008
5th- World Cup, St.Moritz 2009
2nd- World Cup, Whistler 2009
2nd- World Cup, Salt Lake City 2009
5th- World Championships, Lake Placid 2009 ³

2007/08 Season
4th- World Cup, Calgary 2007
3rd- World Cup, Lake Placid 2007
5th- World Cup, Koenigssee & Torino 2008
5th- World Championships, Altenberg 2008
5th- Overall World Cup Standing 2007/08
2nd- Canadian National Championships, Calgary 2007/08

² Set / Hold International Start Record        ³ Set / Hold International Track Record

As a lifetime resident of Calgary, Kaillie has made a commitment to giving back to the community when she is at home during competition breaks and during the off-season. At Christmas time, Kaillie and her family donate time to help feed those less fortunate through a dinner program at the homeless shelter. Kaillie is also an active member with three elementary schools in the Calgary area, Cedarbrae Elementary, Woodbine Elementary, and the Big Rock School (Okotoks). At these schools, Kaillie is a mentor and speaks to students about the importance of setting goals, exercise and saying “No” to drugs.

As a dual national sport athlete in bobsleigh and rugby, Heather Moyse is a remarkable example of passion and dedication to sport and life. After being recruited to the sport of bobsleigh in August 2005, in her first season together with pilot Helen Upperton, Heather won the Canadian Championships, finished 2nd overall in the World Cup Circuit with 1 gold, 2 silvers, 1 bronze, and push-start records on five international tracks. Her bobsleigh season culminated in a 4th place finish at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy where she and Helen set another push-start record. Heather has also represented Canada in 15 international rugby games as a member of the National Senior Women’s Rugby team (since 2004), and was the leading point-scorer in tries for the whole tournament and the only Canadian selected to the All-Star team at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2006. Heather also made her debut with the National Women’s Rugby Sevens team in March 2008 in Hong Kong.

Not only does Heather believe that sport is an amazing means to discover one’s potential in the face of challenges, but that it is also an ideal medium for development at the individual, community, and national levels. In 2001, Heather was selected to serve as a Disability Sports Program Officer with Commonwealth Games Canada in Trinidad and Tobago. She developed and established a camp for children who are deaf or hearing-impaired from islands across the Caribbean called Camp ABLE (Active Bodies, Leadership, and Esteem). Heather remained in Trinidad and Tobago for almost three years doing other work with the Paralympic Association, Disabled People’s International, and the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Union. Since returning to Canada to do her Masters in Occupational Therapy, she has continued to serve as a Member-at-Large for Commonwealth Games Canada with an avid interest in international development through sport.

Having been born and raised in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Heather is a true Islander through and through, and takes any opportunity to go home for some Maritime air. Heather helps out with Island events and fundraisers as much as she can, to give back to the community that contributed so much to making her the person and athlete that she is today.

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, as a child Amanda Moreley had big dreams of some day becoming an Olympian. She recalls drawing a picture of herself with an Olympic gold medal around her neck. Her dream has not faded from the first days of sprinting in track and field. Amanda Moreley is an ideal representative of how far your dreams will take you if you go after them.

Amanda competed in the sprint events throughout high school and then out of curiosity she tried the 300 hurdles as a senior. In fact, she was recruited by the University of Nebraska to be a 400m hurdler. During Amanda's sophomore year at the University of Nebraska the throws coach Mark Colligan asked her to try throwing the hammer. Having never thrown in her entire life, Amanda wasn't sure, but gave it a try. She proved to be a natural by going on to earn the Big 12 Championship title twice as well as an eleventh place national NCAA ranking.

It was at her final collegiate competition that her life would take an interesting turn. After her event concluded Amanda was approached by U.S. Bobsledding Head Coach Bill Tavares, who asked her to try out for the team. A bit confused initially, Amanda considered the opportunity and then decided it would be a good idea to check it out. It proved to be the right decision for Amanda and the U.S. Bobsled Team. Moreley is an ideal representative of how far your dreams will take you if you go after them.

Bobsleigh teams consist of a brakeman and a pilot in the two-man event, and women’s bobsleigh only competes in the two-man. Bobsleigh consists of three main parts. The start, which is the time it takes the sled to travel the first 50 meters down the track and is a critical part of a bobsleigh run. The driving, which, once the crew has loaded at the start, is the pilot’s job to steer the sled through the twisting, high-speed turns and straightaways. Top speeds on average reach 130km/hr depending on the track and weather conditions, and the team can experience five gravitational forces in some corners. To date the top speed reached on the whistler track is 145km/hr (Women’s Bobsleigh). Equipment is the final key factor. The sled and the runners (the points of contact between the Bobsleigh and the ice) can impact a finish time by upwards of 2 seconds, which in a sport where a race can be won or lost by 1/100th of a second is an incredible amount.