Melissa Lotholz grew up on her family’s farm in Barrhead, Alta.
Melissa Lotholz hasn’t really had time to think about the fact she’s about to become a three-time Olympian.
“I think a lot of time we’re very process oriented as athletes and then it’s not until you take a step back and take a look at it and you’re like, ‘oh, that’s actually a pretty big accomplishment’”, the Barrhead, Alta, native told Farms.com from Germany.
Lotholz and her bobsledding teammates have two World Cup races this weekend to determine if Canada or Switzerland can qualify a third sled for the Olympics.
Lotholz competes in the 2-woman bobsleigh as a pilot, and in monobob events.
After the weekend’s races it’s back home for a few weeks, which will include the official team announcement.
Then it’s on a plane again to Europe for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
The opening ceremony takes place Feb. 6, with the bobsleigh events starting six days later.
Now 33-years-old and approaching her third Olympics, Lotholz recognizes she’s a veteran and leader on the team. And is empathetic to the experiences of the younger athletes around her.
“When you’re a brakeman, you’re really not sure where you stand until you’re officially named to the team, and that’s where we are now,” she said. “And depending on how we do this weekend, that’s going to change how many people get named to the team. There’s a lot of uncertainty in that position, I understand the position they’re in, and I try to hold that for them. With my experience I’m able to provide some rootedness for the other girls.”
Speaking of roots, it was on her family’s grain and cattle (now just grain) farm in Barrhead, Alta., where Lotholz got her first taste of what would become her athletic vocation.
And it came thanks to some farm ingenuity.
“My parents welded together an adult-sized version of a classic swing set,” she said. “Then they cut off the ends of a cattle trough and that was my slide. I hauled my big red toboggan up the stairs of the swing set and slid down into the garden. My family jokes it was my fist bobsled ride.”
Her dad, Randy, remembers it vividly.
“She was just little at the time, maybe six,” he told Farms.com. “And she’d come flying down the slide and get herself back up there for another run.”
The thrill of sliding down the slide stuck with Melissa as she got a little older.
When she was 12, she journaled about competing in the Olympics.
Her hard work and faith helped make that a reality.
“God answered in this most crazy way, this sincere prayer of a 12-year-old girl and it’s just been so wild,” she said.
And if Melissa could go back and have a conversation with her 12-year-old self, she wouldn’t say much about what’s to come.
“I wouldn’t want to give spoilers,” she said.
Since the slide on the family farm, the hills have only gotten bigger.
The course in Altenberg, Germany where Lotholz will compete this weekend, for example, has a vertical drop of 122.22 metres, approximately 401 feet.
And seeing her roar down the course brings mixed emotions, Randy said.
“We’re going to be watching her this weekend and of course during the Olympics,” he said. We’re so proud of her. To get to this point has been a journey, and it hasn’t always been easy. But she’s being rewarded for her hard work. And of course, as parent sometimes I’m holding my breath when she’s coming down the track.”
Not only is the farm where Melissa got her start, it also served as a training ground.
During COVID she moved back in and used the environment around her to keep in shape.
“The farm was my personal Olympic training centre,” she said. “I was flipping tires and pushing quads. I’m actually going back to the farm after these Olympics.”
Regardless of where Lotholz finds herself in her athletic journey, she’s reminded of the farm.
That’s because farmers and athletes operate in similar fashions, she said.
“It wasn’t until I was an athlete that I began to understand how much risk people like farmers take on,” she said. “I’d see my parents make these huge investments into a crop, and you don’t get to control the outcome. And for me, I can invest in my preparation as much as I can, but a lot of the results are out of my hands.”
Lotholz also views herself as a bit of farmer.
She’s now involved with Alberta Bobsleigh at the director level and is beginning to train the next crop of athletes.
“The things I did leading up to and at the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, those became seeds for me,” she said. “And I’ve used those to invest in others. And some of the girls and guys I’ve coached have gone onto the World Cup team.”
Farms.com wishes all of Canada’s athletes luck in the upcoming Olympics!
Photo credit: Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton