Kelsey Mitchell returns home from Tokyo to champion’s welcome
Sherwood Park’s Kelsey Mitchell received a champion’s welcome as she arrived in Edmonton from Tokyo.
The cyclist capped off Canada’s incredible Olympic run with a gold medal. She arrived Monday evening and was greeted by family, friends, supporters, and her previous coach – all extra excited to see her since they were not allowed to watch the race in person.
“It’s amazing,” Mitchell said. “My legs were just vibrating as I came down the stairs and saw everyone. The community behind me, the support is how I got this (gold medal).”
Mitchell became an Olympic champion just four years after taking up cycling.
Prior to that she played on the University of Alberta’s Pandas soccer team.
- Canadian track cyclist Kelsey Mitchell wins gold in women's sprint
- From the pitch to pedals: Kelsey Mitchell's journey from soccer to record-breaking cyclist
Among the crowd welcoming Kelsey home were her parents. Her mother Val could not hold back the tears as they celebrated Mitchell’s win for the first time together in person.
“It’s just been amazing, so much love,” Val said. “We’re just all so proud of her and we just wanted her to come home.
“Now we’re just going to let her eat whatever she wants,” Val added, as she laughed.
The cyclist began her pursuit of the sport at the Argyll Velodrome in Edmonton before making the national team in 2018 and moving to train in Ontario.
She is now the third Canadian ever to earn an Olympic medal in track cycling. Quebecer Lauriane Genest earned a bronze in Tokyo and 17 years ago Edmontonian Lori-Ann Muenzer took home gold for Canada in Athens.
Mitchell is already thinking about getting ready for the next Olympic Games in Paris.
She also told CTV News Edmonton that she is excited to use her newfound fame to be an ambassador for the sport of cycling and inspire the next generation of athletes.
Mitchell is one of three medalists from Alberta.
Stony Plain native Stephanie Labbe, women’s soccer goalkeeper, won gold and Rebecca Smith from Red Deer won sliver for women’s swimming 4X100 freestyle relay. Calgary's Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski also won gold in women's eight rowing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.