Olympic calibre athletes have to be more than just athletes.
That is what Barrhead resident and Canadian National Bobsleigh team athlete, Melissa Lotholz said, during a visit to Barrhead’s Bethel Pentecostal Church on Sunday, Sept. 12. The church invited Lotholz to take part in their Start Your Engines event, to kick off their regular fall schedule.
Lotholz is a member of the Canadian bobsleigh team and the breakman on Kalie Humphries two-women bobsleigh. This season Humphries and Lotholz finished in second place overall in the World Cup standings.
The Leader spoke to Lotholz in between autograph sessions during the Start Your Engines event and Bethel’s regular church service.
“Bethel is my home church,” she said. “So it’s always nice when I have a chance to come back home, visit and talk about what is going on in my life as an amateur athlete.”
Two weeks earlier, Lotholz also had the opportunity to talk to Barrhead students at both Barrhead Elementary and Barrhead Composite High School as she helped welcome them back to school on their first day.
“It has been a busy summer that’s for sure,” Lotholz said.
After returning from Europe in early March she took a short break before hitting the pavement in an effort to secure sponsorship.
As a carded national athlete, Lotholz receives a monthly stipend from the Canadian government, and while she appreciates their support, it’s not enough to live and train on. As a Canadian amateur athlete Lotholz is not allowed to earn money from her sport and depends solely on her government stipend or funds she is able to raise on her own.
“The people of Barrhead have been so supportive. So many people have followed my journey through my website, social media and the local paper,” she said, adding that support has come in many ways, including financially.
Earlier in the spring, many residents made a donation to Lotholz during Barrhead County’s ratepayers breakfast and on Canada Day, the Town of Barrhead held a fundraising barbecue with the all the proceeds going toward Lotholz’s continuing efforts as part of Canada’s Bobsleigh Team.
“There are a lot athletes, especially those higher up, that have sports agents whose job it is to find sponsors, set up events on their behalf so they can focus solely on competing,” she said, adding there is a downside for going that route. “Of course, the agent wants to take their cut out of that as well.”
Either way, Lotholz said she isn’t at the point in her career where she can do that yet.
“So I have been knocking on doors and doing the best that I can with the help of my family and friends,” she said. “I guess I’m kind of my own sports agent.”
However, she said looking for sponsors will have to take a back seat while she ramps up her training regime in order to maintain her position on the Canadian Bobsleigh Team.
In late July, the national team began training at the icehouse in Calgary. The icehouse is a state of the art facility that allows bobsleighers to practice their push starts in real world conditions, despite the lack of snow or ice.
Lotholz said a change in the sports rules and regulations will make the process of making one of the few spots on the women’s bobsleigh team even more competitive.
In June, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation changed the number of sleds a nation can have, in Olympic and World Cup competition to two (from three).
“I think that is a good change for the sport,” she said. “I know the Canadian team has been working hard at growing the depth of our sport. So now we will have that many more high calibre athletes all pushing each other to be the best.”
Another change the federation made was lowering the overall weight limit of the women’s sled and team by close to 30 kilograms.
“That’s almost 65 pounds, which really is a lot,” she said, adding that while most of the weight will be coming from the sled, the athletes have also been asked to slim down. Including Lotholz.
“Last year they actually asked me to put on about 15 to 20 pounds,” she said. “So I did have to lose a little bit of weight, but really I’m back where I was training at as a track athlete and my body likes being at this weight better. I still have the strength, but now I am a little faster.”
As what is coming up next for Lotholz, she said after a quick visit with her family she will be returning to Calgary to resume her training. In early October, the national bobsleigh team will have a push camp where it will rank all the prospective pushers and assign them to their drivers.
Lotholz said she is confident that she will once again be paired with Humphries.
“I am really looking forward to the challenge of the push camp,” she said. “I’m definitely a little nervous, but at the end of the day I’m going to go out there and do my best and hopefully it will be enough.”
