Athlete Profile Update: Mellisa Hollingsworth

Do you know what today is?

Well, it’s still cold and snowy up here in Canada, and a quick glance at the calendar only suggests that it’s a February day somewhere between Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day. It may not be significant right now, but next year on this day, Canadians will band together in spirit for the official start of the 2010 Winter games in Vancouver/Whistler, BC.

A year out may seem a little early to get all geared up, but a new Canadian media campaign called “Believe” is getting us pretty excited.  The series of commercials profiling Canadian athletes will be rolled out over the course of the next year, engaging Canadians to connect with the personalities behind the athletes and “fall in love” with our very own.

What’s especially exciting is that one of the first commercials released features Precision Nutrition athlete Mellisa Hollingsworth.  After almost quitting the Team Canada Skeleton team in 2002 when she didn’t earn a spot at the Olympics, Mellisa has been climbing the ranks in her sport ever since.  And as you may have read in her PN profile, this 28-year-old is looking to better her bronze medal performance at the 2006 Torino games. She’s ready to grab the gold at home in 2010.

Along with highlighting one of Canada’s best chances at gold, the media blitz should help to bring more attention to the growing sport of skeleton.  As Mellisa says, “I feel fortunate that I am a part of this amazing production. I’m really excited that CTV chose skeleton as a feature and I hope this will generate more interest in our awesome sport!”

As television goes, Canadian commercials can’t exactly compare to the those shown during the Superbowl. But nevertheless, this one awakens the athlete in us (and c’mon, it’s cool that it features one of the PN community!).

Check out Mellisa’s video (YouTube link):

Next year, you can “believe” that the PN team will be doing whatever we can to make Mellisa’s Olympic dreams come true.

You can follow the schedule and race results for Mellisa and the rest of the Canadian Skeleton team through 2010 at www.mellisahollingsworth.ca and www.bobsleigh.ca