Chandra Crawford

Chandra Crawford was born and raised in the Rocky Mountains of Canmore, Alberta. Growing up in Canmore with her adventurous parents and younger siblings, Chandra had endless opportunities to hike, bike, run, kayak, climb, camp, ski and swim in the mountains. In addition to her sports experience, she is forever indebted to her parents for a well-rounded upbringing that also included piano, choir, French immersion, drama classes and playing saxophone in the concert and jazz bands.

In 2005, before even qualifying for her first Olympics, she founded “Fast and Female,” an organization dedicated to empowering girls in sports that reached over 20,000 girls age 8-18 all over North America with the help of hundreds of athlete ambassadors. Fast and Female is a registered Canadian charity on a mission to keep girls healthy and active in sports. Currently her role at Fast and Female is as Development Director, nurturing the partnerships that enable the ongoing much-needed work of the charity.

In 2006 at the age of 22, Chandra won the Olympic Gold medal in cross-country skiing and captured many hearts when she belted out the national anthem from the top step of the podium. On the start line of the 1.1 km sprint race final, the announcer on CBC pointed out her big smile, saying “this young lady is having a blast and showing it.” In her career she made 7 trips to the World Cup Podium, with two victories in 2008.

Despite great success and meaning in her life, in 2012 she struggled with confidence-loss and bulimia nervosa, which she overcame with much support from friends, family, therapists and medication. The journey and lessons learned are now stories she shares with keynote presentation audiences and in her confidence program for women.

In March 2014 she retired from ski racing after three Olympics and 13 years of international ski racing with the Canadian National Team. In 2016 she graduated from the University of Calgary executive MBA program.

Her main interests beyond Fast and Female (and pre-covid) consist of doing the following activities with friends and family: yoga, camping, dancing, reading, languages, eating seafood, concerts, and any kind of adventure in the mountains with her husband Jared, kids Kyla, Bruce and Margot and their dog, Stella. In August the family looks forward to welcoming their 4th baby. They currently live in NW Calgary.

 

Please Note: The ski information gathered here is compiled from a number of sources; it may not be inclusive of all accomplishments.
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