Catriona Le May Doan is a three-time Olympic speed skating medallist and now, after being named to the board of Calgary 2026, she wants to help educate Calgarians and all Canadians on the benefits of Calgary hosting another set of Olympic Games.

She made her case to CBC Calgary News at Six on Wednesday. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. You can listen to the complete interview here.

Q: Is it your job to get Calgarians to buy in to moving forward with a bid?

A: I don't know if I would use that word, but the fact is, we want to move forward with the bid. We want to be able to move to the point where we say to not just Calgarians, but to Albertans and to Canadians, if we put a bid forward for these Games, what would these Games mean to you?

We are in a unique situation, because there is no other city in the world who has the legacy facilities that we have, that use them to the extent we use them, that have world-class facilities that are already 30 years old.

Many of these other cities try to build legacy, we already have that. We want to move forward with a bid.

Q: City council has not made the decision yet, so is this a campaign to win Calgarians over?

A: We need to separate city council and Calgarians because the plebiscite will go to everybody.

We have checked a couple of boxes. Our chair is now there. On the weekend, the Canadian Olympic Committee unanimously voted yes for Calgary.

It wasn't just winter sport. Summer sport stood and said yes for Calgary 2026.

Now we are in a CEO search. As a board, we have started the visioning and then we need to gather all the information to educate people within this community.

It's not just about sport, it's about housing, it's about transportation, it's about legacy, it's about volunteerism.

I came to this city 30 years ago for sport. I went to four Olympic Games, I've done five games as media.

But now I am also a mom, I see how sport influences my family life. They have used these legacy facilities, learned to skate, learned to ski. It's about how sport is integrated within our community.

Q: Has the decision already been made? Is the fix in?

A: People will get to vote. Every Games is different. People are looking back to 1988. It's different. We are now including the Paralympics. That is huge for our city because now we are talking inclusion and accessibility.

We are a great city but we have a lot of work to do in those areas. Let's educate on what these potentially could do. What do people want the Games to be for them?

I don't want people to look at what has happened in the past.

Q: Meaning, spending billions of dollars for a two-week event?

A: That is a different situation. Those are cities who were building legacy. Let's talk about that, let's have those conversations.

I would like everybody to go in with an open mind. I don't know final numbers either. If it goes forward, I want it to make sense for my children who are being raised in the city and who will chose to live in this city.

It will benefit all sport. It will keep the Olympic Oval open. It will keep WinSport open. But it will also build affordable housing.

We will build within our community. These have to be exceptional Games but affordable Games.

With files from CBC Calgary News at Six