Carolina Hiller-Donnelly

Biography

Carolina Hiller-Donnelly is set to make her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026.

Hiller-Donnelly won back-to-back gold medals in the women’s team sprint (a non-Olympic event) at the ISU World Single Distances Championships in 2023 and 2024. She posted her best individual result at the world championships in 2023 when she finished 12^th in the women’s 500m.

Hiller-Donnelly had contemplated retirement after not making the national team in 2021-22, but she decided to put everything she had into summer training in 2022 and it paid off in her first national title in the 500m. One person who pushed her to continue in the sport was her mother, Ariadne, who had the dream that her future children would try speed skating after she had seen the sport on TV during Calgary 1988. After a battle with cancer, her mother passed away in March 2025. One of the last things she told Carolina was “You are going to the Olympics”. She chooses to skate in honour of her mother, fueled every day by her strength and determination.

Hiller-Donnelly got her first taste of ISU World Cup action in December 2021 in Calgary. She joined the World Cup team full time in 2022-23 and picked up three silver medals in the team sprint. She earned her first individual top 10 result in the 500m in November 2023. She won her first World Cup gold medal in January 2025 in the team sprint in Calgary.

Hiller-Donnelly won gold in the team sprint at the 2025 ISU Four Continents Championships, after winning bronze medals in the event in 2022 and 2024.

Hiller-Donnelly won three silver medals for Team BC in her hometown at the Prince George 2015 Canada Winter Games.

A Little More About Carolina

Getting into the Sport: Started speed skating at age 4 alongside her twin brother, Nicolas, and older brother Lucas… Her mother had fallen in love with the sport while watching Calgary 1988 on TV, even though she came from Panama and was living in South America at the time where there were no speed skating clubs… Both parents were avid volunteers at competitions and her mom even tried speed skating herself… Outside Interests: Graduated from the University of Calgary in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology… Fueled by a desire to make a tangible impact and remember her mother’s battle with cancer, joined forces with the Wheelin’ Warriors of the North, a Prince George cycling team that fundraises for the BC Cancer Foundation through the Tour de Cure… Enjoys reading fantasy novels, knitting, gardening… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Be Brave”… Husband Ben Donnelly competed in long track speed skating for Canada at PyeongChang 2018…