Hughes was born in
Winnipeg, and is a graduate of
Elmwood High School. In an interview on
CBC Radio show
Definitely Not the Opera, Hughes reveals that as a youth, she smoked cigarettes, drank a lot at a young age and did a lot of drugs, admitting she did not envision herself as an athlete. She was inspired to begin skating after witnessing
Gaétan Boucher at the
1988 Winter Olympics. She started with speed skating, but in 1990 she moved to competitive cycling, competing in
track cycling and
road cycling. Hughes started speed skating at the age of 16, and then took up the sport of cycling at the age of 17. She would eventually return to the sport of speed skating at the age of 28, after achieving success in the
1996 Atlanta Olympics. With her experience and endurance earned through cycling, Hughes went on to a successful career competing in the 3,000 m and 5,000 m. This would eventually lead her to medal in these long-distance events at the
Winter Olympics. She then returned to cycling, at the age of 38, to later successfully return for the
2012 London Olympics.
Cycling Hughes, an 18-time Canadian national cycling champion, won the silver medal at the 1995
World Cycling Championships (time trial). She participated at the
1991,
1995, 1999 and
2003 Pan American Games and won eight Pan American Games medals. A participant at the
1990,
1994 and
2002 Commonwealth Games, Hughes won gold in the time trial (road, 2002), bronze in the points race on the
velodrome (2002), and silver in the 50 km team time trial (1994, with
Alison Sydor,
Anne Samplonius, and Lesley Tomlinson). Hughes participated in the
1996 and
2000 Summer Olympics, winning two bronze medals at the
1996 Olympics in
Atlanta, in the individual road race and the individual time trial. These were the second and the third ever medals in road cycling for Canada, after
Steve Bauer's silver medal at the
1984 Summer Olympics, and the first medals in cycling for a Canadian woman. In November 2010, she announced a comeback, indicating her desire to race at the
2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2011 Pan American Championships, Hughes won the individual time trial and road race, both by a big margin. In May 2011, she took first in the
Tour of the Gila, winning two stages. In July 2011, she finished first in the inaugural
Crusher in the Tushar in Beaver, Utah. At the Chrono Gatineau time trials in May 2011, she finished first among an international slate of riders. In June 2012, she was selected to become part of Canada's 2012 London Olympics team, as one of four in cycling, with two other women and a man. and finished 5th in the
road time trial at the 2012 Olympics.
Palmares ;1992 :1st National Road Race Championships ;1994 :1st Stage 3 Etoile Vosgienne :1st Prologue & Stage 9
Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin :1st Overall Idaho International Challenge ::1st Stages 3 & 5 :1st Overall Women's Challenge ;1995 :1st
Liberty Classic :1st National Time Trial Championships ;1998 :1st Stage 2 Tour de Snowy ;1999 :1st National Road Race Championships ;2000 :1st Stage 5
Redlands Bicycle Classic :1st National Time Trial Championships ;2002 :1st Commonwealth Games Time Trial ;2011 :1st Pan American Championships Time Trial :1st Pan American Championships Road Race :1st La visite chrono du Gatineau :1st National Time Trial Championships ;2012 :1st Stage 4b (TTT)
Energiewacht Tour :1st La visite chrono du Gatineau :1st National Time Trial Championships
Long track speed skating In the 2000/2001 season, Hughes made a successful comeback to
speed skating, participating in the
World Single Distance Championships in
Salt Lake City, where she finished 11th in the 3000 m. The following season, she qualified for the
2002 Winter Olympics. After placing 10th in the 3000 m, she won the bronze medal in the 5000 m, just ahead of compatriot
Cindy Klassen. With this, she became the second
speed skater to win medals in the Summer and Winter Games —
Christa Luding-Rothenburger won a gold in the 1000 m speed skating and silver in the 1000 m cycling sprint in 1988. She became the fourth person and second woman to win medals at the Summer and Winter Games. In 2006, she was the only Olympian to have won multiple medals at the Summer Games as well as at the Winter Games. during the
opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics. In
2006, although she had not been asked, she announced she would not carry the
Canadian flag during the
opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in
Turin, Italy. At those Olympics, she won her first gold medal in the 5000 m and a silver medal in the team pursuit as part of the Canadian team. She earned her fifth Olympic medal at the 2006 Games, tying the total all-time Canadian medal count record, also held by
Marc Gagnon and
Phillip Edwards. Klassen set a new record in the same games, winning five medals in Turin, for a total of six. Inspired by
Joey Cheek, who donated his gold medal bonus to
Right to Play, Hughes donated $10,000 of her own money to
Right to Play after her 2006 gold medal win in the 5000 m. (Canada did not give out medal bonuses at the time). Hughes was also a
world record holder on 10,000 m track with 14:19.73 on March 13, 2007, on the
Olympic Oval in
Calgary, which was beaten by
Martina Sáblíková one year later. However, that time is still the Canadian record. On January 29, 2010, she was announced as the Canadian Flag Bearer for the
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. During the games she won a bronze medal in the
5,000 metres which was also the final Olympic speed skating race of her career. Her time of 6:55.73 became a new track record, though her time was soon beaten by
Stephanie Beckert of Germany and gold medalist
Martina Sáblíková of the Czech Republic. This brought her career medals total to six, tying teammate
Cindy Klassen as the Canadian athlete with the most medals. ==Personal life==