It wasn’t too long ago that Niamh Haughey was running on Brock Alumni Field, making tackles as a women’s rugby team member, or skating at Seymour-Hannah Arena alongside her teammates on the Brock women’s hockey team.

But today, she can be found putting her athletic prowess to the test halfway around the world.

In a short time, Haughey (BPhEd’ 21) has made a rapid rise through the Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton team and was named an alternate brakewoman for Team Canada at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Niamh Haughey credits her time with the Brock Badgers for helping to shape the athlete she is today.

“I am unbelievably proud. I was filled with so much joy for not only myself but also my mom when I found out. I couldn’t wait to tell her the news,” she said. “She has been a huge part of my support system from the beginning, so when I told her I made it, I don’t think she was too surprised. She believed in me.”

Haughey was one of eight athletes named to the Canadian women’s roster, which will compete in two events: the monobob, an individual version of bobsleigh, which runs from Feb. 13 to 14, and the two-woman event from Feb. 18 to 19.

A former dual-sport athlete with the Badgers women’s rugby and hockey teams, Haughey decided to try bobsleigh on a whim when she signed up for an RBC Training Ground combine at Brock in 2018.

Haughey was identified as having potential in the sport of bobsleigh. However, she broke her ankle shortly after and had to put the start to her bobsleigh training on hold.

After a long, successful rehab, she rebounded to make Canada’s National Development Bobsleigh team for the 2020-21 season.

Haughey worked closely with Brock Sports Performance (BSP) coaches Dave Scott-McDowell and Vicki Bendus during her time at the University, including through the rehab process.

“My training program didn’t change too much once bobsleigh came about,” Haughey said. “It was Dave and Vicki who helped me excel in sport through my five years of training in the BSP. The goal was to be strong, fast and powerful. Assets that helped me in both rugby and hockey.”

Haughey didn’t meet the national team standards during the first testing camp in July, but she continued to work with Scott-McDowell.

Scott-McDowell supported Haughey with a training plan, since she had the goal of competing in bobsleigh as a sport.

While following COVID-19 protocols, the duo would train weekly in the summer, including video and testing, to develop speed.

“Physically, Niamh is among the most gifted athletes I have ever had the pleasure of working with; however, her work ethic has helped her set herself apart,” Scott-McDowell said. “When there is something she sets her mind to, whether rugby, hockey or bobsleigh, she gives it her all. She is always the athlete putting in extra work to improve.”

By the time the second camp opened in August, Haughey surpassed the training standards.

Niamh Haughey (kneeling front row, right) was one of eight athletes named to the Canadian women’s bobsleigh team, which will compete at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Haughey said she gives plenty of credit to the Brock staff, coaches and teammates she worked with for helping her to become the athlete she is today. She reflected on their impact while competing for Canada on the World Cup circuit in countries such as Austria and Switzerland last year.

“As I was competing alongside some of the best in the world, there were points where I began to reflect on my time at Brock,” Haughey said. “Each varsity team and experience through my five years moulded me into the athlete I am today. Each coach and teammate equipped me with the mentality and confidence to go into the sport of bobsleigh, with complete uncertainty, and still find a way to succeed.”

After the Olympics in Beijing, Haughey plans to attend pilot school in Lake Placid, N.Y., at the end of March.

“I want to see if I’m any good in the front seat of a bobsleigh,” she said.

This is the second time a member of a Brock rugby team has been named to Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. David Greszczyszyn (BPhEd ’02) made the skeleton side of the national team in 2008 and represented Canada at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.