Manitoba’s speed skaters are some of the finest to ever come out of Canada. Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes, Shannon Rempel and Brittany Schussler are a foursome of established skaters–a couple of household names, a couple of up-and-comers–but all examples of incredible female athletes.

Klassen, in particular, is a local and national hero. If you haven’t caught her at previous Olympic Games, have never seen her on television in an MTS Allstream or McDonald’s commercial, or essentially have been living under a rock in recent years, she’s the most decorated Canadian Olympic athlete in history, with a total of six Olympic medals.

At the 2002 Games she won a bronze medal in the 3000 m, and then continued to rack up wins at an incredible pace. Building on her Olympic success she went on to become the first Canadian in 27 years to capture the overall title at the 2003 World Allround Speed Skating Championships. From there she secured the 1500 m World Cup Title, wrapping up an incredible year.

After a serious injury in 2005, Klassen came back with a vengeance when she captured the 1500 m World Cup title for a second time. The icing on the cake that year was locking down double gold medals, winning the 1500 m and 3000 m events at the World Championships.

Beginning at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, Klassen had her most remarkable competitive year thus far, winning gold in the 1500 m, silver in the 1000 m, silver in the Team Pursuit, bronze in the 5000 m and bronze in the 3000 m. She then went on to win the Overall World Cup title in the 3000 m and the World Allround Championships with a sweep of all four distances.

A letter on her website talks of her excitement for the upcoming Games in Vancouver: “It is my goal and dream to compete for Canada at home with the wonderful fans cheering on the Canadian team.” She goes on to tell fans how her training is going: “Training is going well and I’m working hard to get back to top level. I’m so excited for the season ahead and I can’t wait to get back to racing.”

Winnipeg’s own Clara Hughes is also a force to be reckoned with, both on skates and off. Before she became a champion skater, she was a champion cyclist, winning two bronze medals at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games.

The 2000-01 season was her first on ice in 10 years, despite the time away from the rink, she earned herself a position on the national team after less than two months of specific training and brought the sporting world to its feet at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games when she won a bronze medal in the 5000 m  a mere 16 months after competing in the Summer Games as a cyclist.

This astounding feat made Hughes the only Canadian, and just the fourth athlete in history, to win medals at both the Winter and Summer Games.

Leading up to the 2006 Games, Hughes put herself at the forefront with World Cup victories, a world championships title and a world record in the 10,000 m event. She followed all that up with winning gold in the 5000 m race and silver in the team pursuit at those Games.

According to her website, this will be her last season as an Olympic athlete. It also says she is focusing only on the 5000 m race in preparation for the 2010 Games. Her goal? To defend her Olympic title in the 5000 m race on home soil.

Shannon Rempel and Brittany Schussler are established skaters, but still up-and-comers on the speed skating scene. Both born in Winnipeg, each has been skating for years, proving themselves as medalists in World Cups, World Championships and national championships. Neither of these ladies has won an Olympic medal yet, but with the titles each of them has under her belt, they’re sure to make Manitoba (and Canada) proud.