Kristen Bujnowski, a brakewoman on the Canadian bobsleigh team, will be among more than 200 Canadian athletes participating in the Olympic Games Beijing 2022.
Bujnowski grew up on a tobacco and ginseng farm in Mount Brydges, Ontario, with her parents Jerry and Rose, and her brother, Mark, who is a University of Guelph track athlete, aspiring to make the 2024 Olympics.
Bujnowski credits her agriculture upbringing with providing her the tools to compete in Beijing.
“I had great examples around me of what it means to work hard and be dedicated to something,” says the 29-year-old Olympian.
“Being an athlete isn’t just a thing you show up to, it’s a lifestyle, where every decision you make can affect your performance. Farming works the same way.”
Prior to discovering bobsleigh, Bujnowski studied Mechanical Engineering concurrently with Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario. She worked a 9-5 job for three years as an engineer making artificial limbs.
Throughout university, Bujnowski excelled in track and field until injuries kept her from achieving her full potential.
She had been doing CrossFit for six months when she heard Bobsleigh Canada was hosting a testing camp in London, Ontario.
“I was a speed and power athlete so I was almost shopping for a sport that would fit my physical attributes,” states Bujnowski.
After she attended the camp in June 2017, Bujnowski found herself in Calgary as an official member of the national bobsleigh program. In 2018, she was a part of the 2018 Canadian Olympic Team.
Since then, Bujnowski along with teammates Christine de Bruin and Alysia Rissling, has won multiple national and international medals.
The Winter Olympics begin on February 4th. Bujnowski and her bobsleigh teammates compete for gold on February 10th.