How a Winter Olympic speedskater changed directions and became a nun

Martin Rogers | USA TODAY

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PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – At a community ice rink in the northern English city of Bradford, the security attendant had a bit of a dilemma. She had already remonstrated with a group of teenage boys for larking about, skating too quickly and endangering other visitors, and now there was another speedster hurtling around the rink, even faster.

Except that this time the customer powering around the ice, executing gliding turns and weaving in and out of human traffic wasn’t joking around and carried a focused look of remembrance.

And she was wearing a nun’s habit.

Eventually Kirstin Holum, or Sr. Catherine of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, was stopped by the guard and asked to slow down, which she did without complaint.

“Even after all these years,” she said, “I still liked going fast.”

In 1998 at Nagano, American long track speedskating was excited about the emergence of a potential new star. Holum, whose mother Dianne won Olympic gold in 1972 and coached Eric Heiden to five golds in 1980, not only came from skating royalty but, at 17, had already shown remarkable prowess in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter events, disciplines that typically favor older performers who are fully matured. She would place an impressive sixth in the 3,000 and seventh in the 5,000, but would never lace up another Olympic skate.

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After the Games, Holum went to art school in Chicago but then pursued her faith and has devoted her life to it ever since. She is based at St. Clare’s convent in Leeds, England, where she does hands-on work with the poor and needy.

At first she rarely spoke about her former life as a speedskater and many of the sisters in her convent did not know she had once been to the Olympics. However, after publication of a feature article during the 2010 Vancouver Games, her story became widely known in the Catholic community and she continues to receive regular invitations to speak publicly, including a speech in front of 10,000 people at a religious meeting in London.

“What has opened up especially in the last eight years is the chance to look back at so many of the beautiful things about skating and the Olympics,” Holum told USA TODAY Sports in a phone conversation while she was on a brief trip to the U.S. “I don’t have a normal story of coming into the convent. It is quite unique. To have the opportunity to look back and have thanks, and to share that with people I come into contact with, is a blessing.”

She can’t quite believe 20 years has gone by since her only Olympic appearance, just like her mother’s was stunned to realize half a century has elapsed since her own debut.

During the last Winter Olympics in Sochi, Holum was on a mission where some priests allowed her and her fellow sisters to borrow their television. The women’s 3,000-meter popped onto the screen, her specialty, and she watched with her colleagues, creating laughs among the sisters by offering unsolicited analysis that was often matched soon after by similar expert tidbits from the commentators.

She may not get to see any of these Games because there is no TV in the convent, but she is thankful for the way in which speedskating taught her lessons she has brought to her religious vocation.

“Our life as a nun is discipline and hard work and long hours and unexpected things happening,” she said. “I can see now that training for the Olympics has given me a lot of focus in that area.”

When walking into the Opening Ceremony in Nagano, Holum’s U.S. teammate Cory Carpenter told her “now we are, and will always be, Olympians.”

For some that isn’t enough, and the chase for more appearances, more medals, more success goes on. Holum chose a different path and went to chase something that, for her, was worth much more.