November 18, 2005 – Tomorrow, gold medalist Lori-Ann Muenzer will roll into Toronto as the guest speaker at the OCA’s 2005 Cycling Celebration at the Radisson Hotel (East). Pedal caught up with Muenzer to discuss her upcoming visit and to find out what she has been up to since her stunning Olympic victory in Athens in August 2004.

Muenzer is still on a high from her gold medal win in the Women’s Sprint in Athens. “I don’t think I’ll ever come down from this!,” she exclaimed – her enthusiasm and energy is contagious.

Since returning home to Edmonton, Alberta, Muenzer has been inundated with requests to make appearances and to give presentations following her gold medal performance in Athens. As a result, she began a new company, Pure Momentum, which clearly describes its founder.

Pure Momentum was born initially out of a need for Muenzer to prioritize and focus on her many presentations and guest appearances around the country and across the globe. It has transformed into her vision to motivate women of all ages by providing a community of exceptional female motivational speakers. Lori-Ann’s vision for Pure Momentum is “Enabling Women to Have Their Voices Heard”.

And Muenzer brings a lot to the table. In addition to her 18-year cycling career, she has well over a decade of experience working in the legal world and can speak to the challenges of mounting a successful Olympic campaign while working at a serious full-time job. Muenzer worked 40-hour weeks and used her optimism, drive, and ability to prioritize and ultimately realize her dream to win Olympic Gold. Now that is inspirational! Muenzer was also the Canadian Press 2004 female athlete of the year. This award, the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award, is voted by the Canadian sports media each year.

Lori-Ann’s ‘momentum’ doesn’t stop there. In addition to traveling across the country to share her stories and inspire others to go for their personal best, she is currently working on a biography with Key Porter Books. Earlier this fall a documentary 1GNB (1 Gear, No Brakes) about her journey to gold in Athens was screened in Toronto and Calgary. Muenzer has also initiated a development program for children ages 8-13 to enter into competitive cycling and a program to support Kids Cancer Care Foundation.

Muenzer’s cycling goals for the future are to continue to train and pursue funding for the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing, China. Despite the disappointment that Canadian corporations are not rallying behind one of Canada’s finest elite athletes, she remains positive and will continue to train and pursue her goal to win more events. Muenzer competed in the 1000m sprint but says she knows she can go “even faster” and would like to compete in the Flying 200m and Standing 500m events as well.

Despite her decision to not compete in the upcoming 2006 season, she is still very much focused on training and keeping her momentum going. In fact, word has it she’ll be doing some training on rollers while here in Toronto this weekend.

Ultimately, Muenzer says she needs $80-$100,000 to mount a serious campaign for the 2008 Olympics.

When asked about corporate Canada not getting behind an elite Olympian, Muenzer commented that unfortunately she is not the first elite athlete to have suffered from this lack of support. She feels that the corporate community needs to not only invest financially in athletes, but should build long term relationships with them. It is not uncommon for an athlete to be sponsored for a potential 4-5 year period, and then find out days before the end of year one that the firm can no longer provide support. “Our corporate sponsors need to believe in their investments and support athletes in the long term,” she added.

Although she could easily secure funding if she chose to represent another country, Muenzer is very proud of her heritage and would never leave Canada.

On a lighter note, we asked Muenzer which hurts more: road rash or track rash? “Definitely, track. You are going faster when you go down and you have to deal with a lot of splinters,” she said.

Muenzer defines long term success and carries herself with grace and elegance. Her enthusiasm and drive are infectious and one would never suspect all of the obstacles she has had to overcome over the years to attain her Olympic gold.

Lori-Ann Muenzer is an exemplary ambassador for cycling and an inspiration to all Canadian women. You could say she is simply, Pure Momentum.

To see Lori-Ann Muenzer speak tomorrow night in Toronto if tickets are still available visit http://www.ontariocycling.org/. And you can learn more about Lori-Ann and Pure Momentum by visiting her new web site at http://www.puremomentum.ca.