B.C. athlete headed to 4th Olympics in 3rd different sport

Vancouver -

Georgia Simmerling is not just a multi-sport athlete. She’s a multi-season athlete, who has competed on the slopes and on the cycling track. The Canadian Olympian is off to her fourth games next month in Tokyo.

Her event is team pursuit in track cycling, and it’s not for the faint of heart: Four cyclists round an oval track in unison at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour.

“Track cycling is a beast,” Simmerling told CTV News Vancouver. “We have no brakes on our bikes … racing for four kilometres and we are inches away from the wheel in front of you.”

“There is a lot of miles you have to do as a cyclist to get strong. So, it takes a certain mental strength. That’s for sure.”

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Simmerling was part of Canada’s women’s team pursuit and found success: a bronze medal.

“We rode our hearts out that day,” she said. “It all came together for us. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.”

“Crossing that finish line with my teammates was a feeling I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.”

Along with her team mates Jasmin Duehring, Allison Beveridge, Annie Foreman-Mackey and Ariane Bonhomme, Simmerling is busy training at the National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont. before heading off to the games.

“We are hoping to better that performance in Tokyo,” she said. “We are definitely looking to step on that top step in Tokyo.”

Simmerling’s Olympic journey began at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games in alpine skiing. It was a special moment, competing in her home town.

“It was exciting,” she said. “I was young, just 21, making it to my first Winter Olympics, pretty young as a ski racer.”

“(It was) unbelievable to compete in my home games with my family and friends, seeing family in the village, seeing the Canadian fans, walking through the opening ceremonies, these are moments I will never forget.”

A year later, she transitioned to the sport of ski cross. She liked the thrill of it.

“There is three women I’m competing against and girls are a bit catty, I’d like to say, so it can get pretty crazy out there.”

“It’s an adrenaline-seeking, nerve-pumping sport and it’s super fun.”

She represented Canada in ski cross at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and for the next three years she had a number of podium finishes on the World Cup circuit, but a change was on the horizon.

“I had a crazy idea that I wanted to go to the Summer Olympics and it wasn’t going away.”

At this point in her career, Simmerling wanted to be part of a team, so she changed gears and became a track cyclist.

The quick transition to cycling was a success, with a number of World Cup podium finishes helping make Canada’s women’s pursuit team one of the best in the world.

While still racing around the velodrome in the summer, Simmerling continued to pursue her dream in ski cross in the winter.

“I pretty much had my ticket stamped from Air Canada to go to Pyeongchang,” she said. “I was 4th in the world … I was the top Canadian.”

Just weeks before the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, Simmerling crashed on the ski cross course at Nakiska, Alta. She had broken bones in both her legs.

“Injuries come with ski cross and I took a pretty nasty tumble in the last World Cup just weeks before Pyeongchang,” she said. “I had to watch my teammates sitting on the couch in Canada instead of being there.”

“It was tough, but it was exciting to watch my teammates win gold and silver, Kelsey (Serwa) and Britt (Phelan).”

It was back in 2016 at the summer games in Rio where Simmerling found her soulmate.

“Steph and I met in Rio we started dating a couple months after that,” she said.

Stephanie Labbe is the goalkeeper for Canada’s women’s soccer team. She also won a bronze medal for Canada in 2016.

“I can’t imagine having gone through some significant parts of my life without her, especially the injury before Pyeongchang,” Simmerling said.

They’ve made Calgary their home, but both high-performance athletes are currently on the road, training for the Tokyo Olympics. Labbe will be in Los Angeles with the women’s soccer team and Simmerling in Ontario.

“She’s just such a rock in my life and someone that I just lean on daily and I just can’t imagine life without her,” Simmerling said.

After 10 years of representing her country in both the summer and winter Olympics, the 32-year-old Simmerling is back on her bike and looking to complete her comeback.

“Gold in Tokyo. That’s the plan. We are going to make that happen.”