O'BRIEN Kate

Canada

Cycling Track

Date of Birth: 23 Jul 1988

Age: 33

Gender: Female

Sport Class: C4

Place of birth: CALGARY, AB

Birth Country:

Canada

Place of residence : CALGARY, AB

Residence Country:

Canada

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Cycling Track	Women's C4-5 500m Time Trial	2

Schedule

Change

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Izu Velodrome	Women's C4-5 500m Time Trial	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

CYCLING ROAD

Rank	Event	Year	Location
Track World Championships
DNF	Women's C4 - Omnium	2020	Milton, ON, CAN

CYCLING TRACK

Rank	Event	Year	Location
Track World Championships
1	Women's C4 - 500m Time Trial	2020	Milton, ON, CAN

Nickname:

Katie, Traps, Trapzilla (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017)

Hobbies:

Playing the guitar, reading, doing outdoor activities. (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017)

Occupation:

Athlete

Education:

Science - University of Calgary, Canada

Languages spoken:

English

Coach:

Sebastien Travers [national], CAN

Other sports:

She competed for the Canadian bobsleigh team from 2010 to 2015. (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017; cyclingmagazine.ca, 21 Jan 2016; teaminfinit.ca, 05 Aug 2015)

Injuries:

She tore her hamstring in 2013 and missed the first half of the bobsleigh season. (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017)

She had three reconstructive surgeries on her knee after she tripped over a track hurdle at age 16. The injury sidelined her from competitive sports until she was in university. (thestar.com, 01 Jun 2015)

Start:

She began able-bodied 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. "I said, 'Okay, lets 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 able-bodied 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 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (cyclingmagazine.ca, 30 Jan 2020)

Hero:

Canadian cyclist and speed skater Clara Hughes, British track cyclist Chris Hoy. (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017)

Ritual:

She wears a bumblebee necklace as a lucky charm and listens to specific songs before races. (olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2017)

Philosophy:

"Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity." (Twitter profile, 01 Mar 2016)

General Interest

Classification
C4 (UCI, 15 Mar 2020)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (cyclingmagazine.ca, 30 Jan 2020)

Impairment Details
In 2017 she sustained a traumatic brain injury in a training accident while track cycling at Glenmore Velodrome in Calgary, AB, Canada. (cyclingmagazine.ca, 30 Jan 2020; paralympic.ca, 30 Jan 2020)

General
ABLE-BODIED 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, decided to try it 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)

Social Media

Legend

:: Silver Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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