Winter sport? Summer sport? Clara Hughes is an athlete for all seasons. She’s one of the biggest stories to emerge in Canadian sports, and she’s not finished yet. A six-time Olympic medalist in cycling and speed skating, she’s the only athlete in history to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Games. Clara was the Canadian flag bearer for the 2010 Vancouver Games opening ceremony, proudly leading the home team to its historic medal-winning performance; she also represented Canada with distinction in London 2012. But there’s far more to Clara than athletic achievements.
For Clara, success means more than earning medals. It means having a voice and using the opportunity to reach out and help others. When she uses this voice, it’s loud and clear.
After winning gold in 2006, Clara donated $10,000 of her personal savings to the Right to Play programs. This donation challenged Canadians to support the cause, raising over half a million dollars for the international humanitarian organization that uses sports for development. In 2010, she donated her $10,000 medal bonus to the Vancouver inner city school program Take a Hike, which uses adventure-based learning to give youth at risk a better direction in life.
She is the national spokesperson for Bell Let’s Talk Day and a passionate advocate for mental health. By sharing past struggles with depression, Clara uses her own story to spread the word that help is available, recovery is possible, and people with mental health issues can and do lead full, happy, and productive lives.
She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Manitoba, holds honorary doctorates from various Canadian universities, and has been awarded the International Olympic Committee’s prestigious Sport and the Community award for her commitment to promoting the values of sports and play around the world. Clara also has a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame 
and was recently named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN).
Clara is taking her commitment to mental health to the next level with Clara’s Big Ride for Bell Let’s Talk. On March 14, 2014, Clara will start her 12,000 km journey around the country, visiting 95 communities in 110 days to continue to raise awareness about mental health and drive positive, long-term change in the way Canadians perceive mental illness.
