Kikkan Randall
- 5-Time Olympian, Olympic & World Champion
- "Get-Activist"
- Mom Athlete
Travels From
Canada
Kikkan Randall Speaker Biography
Kikkan Randall is one of the few athletes who can say she made her Olympic debut in her birthplace - born in Salt Lake City and a member of the 2002 Olympic Team in Salt Lake (although, admittedly, the races were at Soldier Hollow). A promising cross country runner while growing up in Alaska, she added "serious" cross-country skiing as a counter-seasonal training vehicle...and then became a champion skier, too. She's already got the best Olympic and World Cup results by an American woman. And, really, she's just getting started.
In 2008, Randall scored the first ever World Cup Victory for an American woman in cross-country and notched two more World Cup Top-tens to close the season ranked 15th in the world in sprint rankings.
Despite being diagnosed with a massive blood clot in her left leg last April, Randall has rebounded well and reports "the best summer of training on record." Looking forward to the 2009 season, the lone American woman on the US World Cup team is gunning for more World Cup wins and a shot at the first ever US women's World Championship medal at the World Championships in February.
Randall tied the knot with Canadian ski racer Jeff Ellis on May 16, 2008.
Her family, in Salt Lake while her mother attended law school at the University of Utah, returned to Alaska after Randall's birth. The niece of two Olympians (Uncle Chris Haines, Mom's brother, was a '76 cross country skier and Aunt Betsy Haines was the first racer on-course in the 1980 5K), she was a first-rate high school cross country skier and turned to skiing as a way to continue training in winter. She went on to become one of the top U.S. junior racers; "It's in my blood," she said with her trademark high-voltage smile. She blends classes at APU (aiming for business degree) with her cross country training and serves as a key liaison between the Ski Team and one of the nation's premier club programs.
Kikkan's unique name is partly inspired by Christina "Kiki" Cutter, the first American, male or female, to win a World Cup title. In December 2007, Kikkan joined Kiki in the history books by becoming the first American woman to win a cross-country World Cup title. Both women also achieved Olympic best results for their respective disciplines.
"Kikkanimal"...The last Alaska state speed-skiing champion; she tried it almost on a whim and after she'd won the title (1997 - 74.14mph), organizers canceled plans for further speed events...Randall may have something going with even numbers: she's won the U.S. sprint title in '02, '04, '06 and '08...And she added two distance titles in '06, too.
To book Olympian speaker Kikkan Randall, contact Executive Speakers Bureau at (901) 754-9404.
Motivational
I like to motivate people. Whether it’s encouraging others to chase their dreams or to live a healthier lifestyle I can share tips and tricks for breaking down big challenges into manageable steps.
Team Building
I have always believed that I could be at my best when I helped those around me be at their best. During my ski career we went from no US women’s ski team in 2006 to Olympic medal favorites in 2014 and 2018. Along the way we cultivated a supportive and cohesive team environment that inspired not only the US ski community but we became a model for other World Cup teams.
Perservance
It took me five Olympic Games and 18 Olympic starts to finally win that allusive first gold medal for the US Ski team in cross-country skiing. Over the course of 20 years I experienced many setbacks from a blood clot in 2008, to Olympic failure in 2014 to a stress fracture in my foot just months before the 2018 Games. The journey to success is a rollercoaster of ups and downs and it took perseverance to finally reach that top step of the Olympic podium.
