Laura Brown

Biography

As a young gymnast, Laura Brown always wanted to compete at the Olympic Games. But after a back injury as a teenager, she switched sports and started cycling at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. While there, she watched Canada’s top speed skaters (including Clara Hughes, Catriona Le May Doan and Cindy Klassen) train before heading off to win multiple medals at Salt Lake City 2002. Those “superheroes” fired up her Olympic dream. Brown first represented Canada during the 2009-10 season, which included her world championship debut as part of the team pursuit. She travelled to London with the 2012 Olympic team but was an alternate to the bronze medal-winning team pursuit. Brown went on to win a pair of world championship medals in the team pursuit, bronze in 2013 and silver in 2014. She was struck by injury in September 2014, breaking her collarbone and arm while rupturing several ligaments in her shoulder on the day before she was set to leave for the Pan American Championships. That caused her to miss the entire 2014-15 season. Her first competition back was the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, where she won her second straight Pan Am Games gold medal in the team pursuit. She also just missed the podium in the road cycling time trial, after having won bronze at Guadalajara 2011. At Rio 2016, Brown competed in the qualifying round of the team pursuit, winning a bronze medal alongside Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser, Kirsti Lay and Georgia Simmerling.

Getting to know…

Family: Parents Leonard and Dawn Brown… Older sister Jessica… Getting into the Sport: Started cycling at age 14, drawn to the thrill of riding and the competition… Outside Interests: Graduated from the University of Victoria in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science… Preparing for Masters of Physical Therapy program at the University of British Columbia by taking required courses online through Athabasca University… Enjoys hiking, rock climbing, baking, volunteering, watching movies… Supports Take a Hike – Youth at Risk Foundation through weekly classroom tutoring and helping out at events… Odds and Ends: Favourite quote: “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine… Always travels with a Buddha figurine… Collects patches from her travels… Nickname: Brownie, Downtown Brown…