Carolina Hiller-Donnelly’s mom convinced her to give the Olympics one last try. Now, she skates in her honour

“Oh, my gosh, it’s so exciting,” is how Carolina Hiller-Donnelly, a long-track speed skater from Prince George, B.C., describes the lead-up to her Olympic Games debut.

The 28-year-old was thinking of retiring from the sport after not making the national team in 2021, but she was convinced by her mom to follow her dreams at least one more time.

“I felt like I wasn’t improving anymore, my times were pretty much staying the same and I thought my potential had been reached,” she told CBC’s Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk. “But my mom said, give it one more go.”

A new coach gave way to a new attitude and she started seeing an future where she could go for gold.

Her mother sadly passed in March 2025, providing another setback but while dealing with the loss, it was also the memory of her encouragement that made Hiller-Donnelly keep going.

“She was always on the start line with me, no matter where I was,” Hiller-Donnelly said. “I feel really ready going into Milan and I feel her with me.”

A hometown that punches above its weight

It may not be hosting the Olympic Games anytime soon but the city of Prince George has a lot to cheer for at this year’s 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games.

The northern B.C. city of roughly 90,000 people, a 700 kilometre drive north of Vancouver, has sent three athletes, plus one from neighbouring Mackenzie, to compete at the games.

That puts it on par with former Olympic co-host Whistler and just behind athletic powerhouse North Vancouver for B.C. representation in Italy.

Plus, Team Canada’s men’s hockey team is coached by Prince George’s very own Jon Cooper, who led Canada to victory over the United States at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

Other athletes overcome loss

Probably the most favoured to medal among the Prince George pack is Meryeta O’Dine who took home two bronzes in snowboarding in Beijing 2022 after being forced out of competition four years earlier following a concussion.

Like Hiller-Donnelly, she also had to work through her grief, overcoming the loss of her brother and some time thinking about life away from the sport before ultimately returning and winning a pair of bronze medals in 2022.

She’ll once again be competing in snowboard cross, this time alongside teammate Evan Bichon of Mackenzie at his debut games.

The community of just over 3,000 is about 180 kilometres from Prince George but just 60 kilometres from the Powder King Mountain Resort, a remote but renowned set of runs in B.C.’s Pine Pass which provides a significant snow base even when other parts of the province lack snow.

“It was truly for the love of the sport,” 27-year-old Bichon said of his early days riding with the Northern Edge Snowboard Club. “It wasn’t until I was 12 or 13 … that I found it was an Olympic sport and said, ‘Oh, let’s set a goal.'”

Bichon also lost his mother in 2025 and says she was the first person he thought of when he found out he was going to Milano-Cortina.

“She was the biggest part of my sports career by far,” he said. “Even though she’s no longer with me, it’s a pretty special day.

“She’ll be cheering me on. She cheered me on my whole life and this is no different.”

Support from home

Both Hiller-Donnelly and Bichon say in addition to their mothers, they’ll be driven to compete by hometown pride.

According to Mackenzie Mayor Joan Atkinson, Bichon is the first local to make it to an Olympic Games, something he says “means a lot.”

“To represent such a small tight-knit community, it’s really a hidden gem … I’m very proud,” he said.

Hiller-Donnelly said much the same.

“My community in Prince George is everything to me,” she said. “I always feel their love and I’m just so proud to be at the Olympics and also representing Prince George.”