Canadian bobsledder Melissa Lotholz starts from scratch with goal of Olympic return

Perhaps it was a sign.

As Canadian bobsledder Melissa Lotholz returned home from the Beijing Olympics, her social media was hacked. She doesn't know how it happened, and the Canadian Olympic Committee tried to help her recover her Instagram and Facebook pages, but they were gone.

Lotholz soon followed. She took a full year away from sliding to complete her undergraduate degree, dip her toes in other sports and, after eight years of elite-level training, to just have a break.

She didn't even reboot her socials.

"I was like, 'Well, whatever, it's kind of nice for the year off.' I literally dropped off the face of the planet," she said.

Now, Lotholz is back in the sled. She's competing on the North America Cup circuit, a step below the World Cup, after Canada lost one of its quota spots last year. Lotholz's goals are to qualify for the world championships in February, for next year's World Cup and for the 2026 Olympics.

The 31-year-old from tiny Barrhead, Alta., — a town about 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton with a population 4,591 as of 2022 — has competed twice before at the Olympics, as a brakeman in 2018 and a pilot in 2022. She is the first Canadian woman ever to successfully make that transition within four years.

Lotholz said she views this season on the North America Cup circuit as "one step back to take two steps forward."

"I think having had so much experience under my belt and being the only person on the team that has competed at the last two Games, I have that bigger perspective of like, 'OK, so how do I get to the Olympics in 2026 as a medal threat and be in the best position possible?'" Lotholz said.

That plan began with nothing beyond time away from the sport she'd previously devoted her life toward.

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