Herstory Congratulates Clara Hughes
Speedskater Clara Hughes has been chosen to carry Canada's flag into the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The following profile of Clara Hughes appeared on page 104 of the 2004 edition of Herstory: The Canadian Women's Calendar.
Clara Hughes
No one could ever call Clara Hughes single-minded. This eclectic mix of athlete, artist, writer and nature-lover believes her diverse range of interests is the key to her success.
Constantly seeking "the beauty, the freshness, the challenge" of new experiences, she describes herself as "really determined" and a fast learner. "When I am motivated," she says, "I can transform in a short time from being mediocre, to being competent with anything."
In fact, Clara has achieved excellence in many of her pursuits. In her early teens, a pattern of skipping school had led to failing grades but, at 16, inspired by Gaetan Boucher's Olympic performance, she took up speedskating and abruptly turned away from what has been described as a "misspent youth." "Something inside of me connected with the Games," she recalls. "My Olympic dream was born and it changed my life."
A year later, she switched her focus to cycling.
Ten years as a cyclist brought Clara numerous wins at the national and international levels, including two bronze medals at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games.
At the age of 28, Clara returned to speedskating. With her bronze medal performance at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, she became the only Canadian, and only the third athlete in the history of the modern Games, to win medals at both summer and winter Olympics. She accomplished this feat less than a year-and-a-half after returning to the sport.
Born in Winnipeg, Clara was raised in an artistic environment and is currently working towards a degree in fine arts at the University of Calgary. She has contributed articles to The Globe and Mail and is a passionate and knowledgeable birdwatcher.
Still training hard for both Summer and Winter Olympics, Clara has begun imagining her future. Art and sport, she believes, both represent forms of self-expression requiring deep inner resources, self-motivation and vision. Already running development camps for young female cyclists and with a long-standing dream of owning an art studio, she is pondering the idea of developing a camp combining the two. "I think if you give kids a taste of accomplishment," she says, " they can do anything."
Sport has taught me to live. I mean really live each day to its fullest--to thrive in something I love to do, to have a dream and have the courage to follow it.--Clara Hughes, 2002
Clara Hughes
