Dawn Richardson Wilson

Biography

Dawn Richardson Wilson made her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022 where she was the brakewoman who finished eighth in the two-woman event with pilot Cynthia Appiah.  

Richardson Wilson made her international bobsleigh debut in November 2018 with pilot Kori Hol on the North American Cup circuit. They stood on their first podium at the end of the month in Lake Placid and won their first race in January 2019 in Calgary. Pushed by Richardson Wilson in all but one race, Hol ended the season as the top-ranked pilot in the North American Cup two-woman standings.

Richardson Wilson got into her first IBSF World Cup race in December 2019, pushing Christine de Bruin to a fifth-place finish in Lake Placid. But her season would be cut short by a concussion sustained in a training crash. Richardson Wilson became a fulltime World Cup brakewoman in 2020-21, but the Canadian team only competed in the second half of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She achieved a career-best fourth-place finish with Appiah in Innsbruck in January 2021. A week later, she made her IBSF World Championship debut in Alysia Rissling’s sled.   

Richardson Wilson was reunited with Appiah on the World Cup circuit in 2021-22, recording a season-best seventh-place finish in St. Moritz.

Following Beijing 2022, Richardson Wilson stepped away from bobsleigh so that she could work on some aspects of being an athlete (such as the mechanics of sprinting) and mature as a person. She continued her education at the University of Calgary, where she also competed in track and field for the Dinos, winning three straight 60m Canada West titles. She returned to the Ice House in Calgary for a national team camp in August 2024 to refamiliarize herself with bobsleigh. She came back fully to the sport the following year and earned a spot on the World Cup team for 2025-26. In the leadup to Milano Cortina 2026. she raced in six World Cup two-woman events with four different pilots, earning three top 10 finishes.

A Little More About Dawn

Getting into the Sport: Grew up competing in a lot of sports (basketball, rugby, athletics, weightlifting) but fell in love with bobsleigh after going to a recruitment camp… She joined the national team program in 2018… Outside Interests: Completed a Bachelor of Political Science at the University of Calgary… Works part time as a correctional peace officer in Calgary… Loves binge-watching TV and moves and playing board games with teammates… Odds and Ends: Born in Accra, Ghana; moved to Canada at age 2… Favourite quote: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13