Motherhood has Canadian freestyler Cassie Sharpe bringing whole new perspective to Olympics

Cassie Sharpe has already been an Olympic, world, and X Games champion. But what is winning? How does someone who has triumphed redefine the power of winning? Do they have to?

If you’re Sharpe, the 33-year-old half-pipe freestyle skier from B.C., the answer is rooted in life experience. As the mother of a toddler — she took three years off competition around Louella’s birth in 2023 — it means reconfiguring your training schedule and reprioritizing many things. You want to be the best mother to your child but you also want to be the best in the world. 

When I spoke with Sharpe ahead of the Olympics, she said that her support system allows her to mother a young daughter — Lou for short — and keep up with the schedule of an elite athlete. 

She credits her mom, Chantal, and her husband, retired Olympic skier Justin Dorey, with not only helping her physically with Lou, but supporting her as an athlete with very real, very achievable dreams. 

Sharpe lives in Squamish, B.C., but she travels for training and competition. When she spoke about her journey to the Milano-Cortina Olympics, she was reflective about what it takes, what it means, and how those things have changed for her. 

Olympic mom Cassie Sharpe is ready to make history

When mothers return to their jobs after a maternity leave, there can be an assumption they might not compete in the same way or that their priorities have shifted. The perception can be they are softer, or perhaps motherhood clashes with the sacrifices required to win. 

But it is completely possible to be laser-focused and also “be present,” as Sharpe wants to be for Lou. What Sharpe shows us is that changing the end goal is not required. Perhaps tweaking the path is necessary, but that is life. 

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