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Board Member Neville Wright: Training and preparation helped me succeed as an Olympian — and in my life after sport

Neville Wright

This First Person article is the experience of Neville Wright, a former Olympian based in Edmonton. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

I got the email in 2022. I was going to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Not as a spectator. And despite being a three-time Olympian, I wasn’t going as an athlete either. 

I would be a member of the staff, supporting the men’s national team for Canada Soccer as a performance recovery therapist and sprint consultant. 

Being part of such a high-performing team was everything I could have asked for. 

It was motivating. It was inspiring. It was a feeling only matched by the moment, 12 years earlier, when I heard the announcement that I had been named to my first Olympic bobsleigh team. I knew it was most likely happening, but I needed that confirmation to make it real.