Melissa Lotholz

Melissa grew up on a family farm in Barrhead, Alberta that was her great-grandpa’s homestead. The farm has been in the family since 1932 – a place that provided Melissa and her sister endless unique learning opportunities and experiences. 

A gifted athlete, Melissa first entertained getting involved in bobsleigh in 2011 when her track and field partner, Christine de Bruin, gave the sliding sport a try. Watching Christine transition into bobsleigh encouraged Melissa to give it a try for herself. Melissa attended a recruitment camp in 2013 while competing on the varsity track squad at the University of Alberta. Posting solid testing numbers, Melissa began training for bobsleigh in 2014, and made the move to Calgary where she earned an opportunity during the national training camp to push two-time Olympic champion, Kaillie Humphries.            

During her rookie year, Melissa pushed Kaillie Humphries to three podium finishes. Melissa pushed Kaillie to nine podium finishes in as many races in 2015-16 to secure the overall World Cup title. The Canadian duo won four World Cup races, had three silver medals (including at the World Championships), and two bronze.

Splitting time pushing Humphries and pilot Alysia Rissling, Melissa landed on the podium four times including a silver-medal finish with Team Humphries at the 2017 World Championships in Konigssee, Germany. In the 2017-18 season, Melissa once again partnered with Humphries to win two golds and one silver, bringing her international medal tally to 19 (17 World Cup, two World Championship medals). She also has two overall World Cup titles along with two second place finishes on the overall World Cup. Melissa also slid into the history books in 2017 when she was part of the first ever women’s four-man sled to compete on the World Cup. 

At the recruitment camp in 2013, Melissa participated on a CBC show coined “the Future of Canadian Bobsleigh” as a potential recruit for the 2018 Games. That dream became a reality in PyeongChang when she reunited with Christine de Bruin in the Canadian sled. The varsity teammates and friends finished seventh in their Olympic debut.

Weeks after returning from Korea, Melissa headed to Lake Placid to take part in bobsleigh driving school. Melissa is now in the pilot position in the sled, developing as a pilot in the Canadian program and chasing the Olympic podium while competing on the World Cup circuit. She became the first Canadian woman to podium in a monobob race when she captured the bronze medal in Igls, Austria, and she became the only Canadian woman to compete at the Olympic level in both the brakeman and pilot position when she returned the Olympics in the pilot position in 2022. Melissa partnered with Sara Villani in the 2-woman event to finish 12th at the Games in Beijing. 

Now, Melissa is working towards her third Olympics. She is the only athlete on the national bobsleigh team to have competed at the last two Olympic Games.   

A very active athlete growing up, Melissa has participated in figure skating, basketball, volleyball and track and field. She was recruited to the U of A varsity track program, but first attended the music program at Vanguard Bible College in Edmonton. During this time, she did a year of club track before officially joining the U of A where she studied Nutrition and Food Science with a minor in physical activity for three years. She was highly involved with the Athletes in Action campus ministry at the U of A. In 2022/23 Melissa took a year away from sport and returned to the U of A to finish her degree.   

Outside of sport, Melissa fills her time with family and friends. She enjoys being outside, cooking, playing piano, journaling, watching movies and playing games. She is also highly involved with the local church community and loves getting to know new people and their stories.

Career Highlights

Pilot 

Brakewoman​

	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Other
2019 – World Championships, Whistler, CAN				14th 2woman
2018 – Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang, KOR				7th 2woman
2017 – World Cup, Winterberg, GER				4th 2woman
2017 – World Cup, Whistler, CAN
2017 – World Cup, Park City, USA
2017 – World Cup, Lake Placid, USA
2017 – Overall World Cup Standings
2017 – World Championships, Koenigssee, GER
2017 – World Cup, Igls, AUT
2017 – World Cup, St. Moritz, SUI
2017 – World Cup, Altenberg, GER
2016 – Overall World Cup Standings
2016 – World Cup, Koenigssee, GER
2016 – World Championships, Igls, AUT
2016 – World Cup, St. Moritz, SUI
2016 – World Cup, Whistler, CAN
2016 – World Cup, Park City, USA
2016 – World Cup, Lake Placid, USA
2015 – Overall World Cup Standings
2015 – World Cup, Koenigssee, GER
2015 – World Cup, Winterberg, GER
2015 – World Cup, Altenberg, GER
2015 – World Cup, La Plagne, FRA
2015 – World Cup, Sochi, RUS
2015 – World Championships, Winterberg, GER				7th 2woman
2014 – World Cup, Altenberg, GER

Olympic Winter Games Results

World Championship Results

Monobob

Brakewoman 

World Cup Results

Pilot 

Brakewoman​