No Olympian would say that the road to the games was easy, but Canada's Kate O’Brien certainly had an unusually rocky path. Originally an aspiring Olympic bobsledder, Kate tore her hamstring just before the Sochi 2014 Winter Games and couldn’t compete due to the injury.
The disappointment was fierce, and it left her asking herself: "Do I keep going for another four years? Do I try something new? Do I move on?" she explains in the video above. But then, she heard about a camp hosted by Cycling Canada to identify new talent. After doing well at the camp, she swapped her sled for whizzing spokes, and this weekend, you can catch her in three track-cycling events in Rio: women's sprint, women's team sprint, and something called the keirin.
Track cycling is a pretty scary event: It requires hurtling across the world’s slipperiest-seeming track, strapped to a bike with no brakes, and precariously bumping elbows with a handful of ferocious competitors.
But as O'Brien explains, "in order to meet your full potential, you have to overcome fear."
Watch the video in full above to hear more about O'Brien's incredible journey — and how she continues to face her fear every day.
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