The upcoming season for the Amazing Race Canada will have some Airdrie flair to it this summer. 

The show will run it’s first ever Heroes Edition and former Airdrie resident and Olympic Skeleton athlete Mellisa Hollingsworth is a part of it.

Hollingsworth will compete in the race along with her friend and Canadian Barrell Racing Champion Nancy Csabay.

Hollingsworth explains how the opportunity to be a part of the race came about.

“When the nominations came out to do the Heroes Edition Nancy had posted on Social Media saying ‘hey, this is on my bucket list who would like to do this with me,’ and I was one of the hundred of her friends that said ‘I would love to do this’. We just thought, let’s see how far we can go with this.”

Hollingsworth currently resides in Central Alberta but called Airdrie home from 2007 to 2014. She says the community still holds a special place in her heart.

When it comes to the race itself, Hollingsworth says she’s looking forward to how everyone’s story unfolds.

“We’ll remember it for being a part of it but it will be interesting to see how it unfolds on TV. Also, the rest of the racers because you don’t get to see how their stories come together.”

During her Olympic career, Hollingsworth won the Bronze Medal at the 2006 games in Torino and fell just shy of the podium in the 2010 games in Vancouver.

She says that moments like that are what push her to keep competing no matter what the outcome.

“I’m proud of who I am and how I raced this race regardless. Sure it’s wonderful when you do well but the majority of us, we become better at what our passions are when we have those setbacks. That’s what I learned in sport, in life, and in this race.”

The Heroes Edition of the Amazing Race runs every Tuesday beginning July 3rd.

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com