Early Saturday, Canadian Cycling Magazine broke the news that a Cycling Canada board member, Becka Borody, resigned her position over the controversy around the organisation’s decision to cancel the women’s team pursuit program.
“The communication, and then lack of transparency around recent decisions made it clear that my values no longer aligned with leadership of the board and the organisation,” Borody told Canadian Cycling Magazine in a statement. Borody added that this was not an isolated incident and the latest decision added to “ongoing reasons” to push her to resign.
Now, a second board member has resigned, according to the CBC. The CBC does not name the second board member to resign.
Appeals, emotion and legal, follow decision
Borody’s resignation follows on the heels of five members of the women’s pursuit program filing an appeal of Cycling Canada’s decision with the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. Skyler Goudswaard, Fiona Majendie, Jenna Nestman, Lily Plante and Justine Thomas are the athletes behind the appeal.
Those riders will be represented by Amanda Fowler and Dr. Emir Crowne, who have an experience of their own with Cycling Canada after successfully arguing for the reinstatement of Dylan Bibic onto a world championships team in 2025.
“As reflected in public reporting, the athletes received no meaningful notice before an entire program was cut. This eliminated a critical Olympic pathway,” Fowler and Dr. Crowne said in a statement. Unlike the Bibic case, the council sees broader issues in the women’s team pursuit appeal.
“The decision raises serious questions about fairness, consistency, and whether female athletes are being afforded the same opportunity to compete and progress as the men’s program,” Fowler and Dr. Crowne add.
“I am left feeling helpless”
That legal appeal added to the outpouring of support for the women’s pursuit program, from current and past athletes, coaches, and riders in other disciplines.
Skyler Goudswaard, one of the riders appealing Cycling Canada’s decision, shared the severe emotional toll the decision, and the way that decision was communicated, is having in a conversation with Canadian Cycling Magazine.
“On a personal level, I am left feeling helpless,” Goudswaard said, arguing that the decision was not just communicated poorly, but that the entire reasoning given by Cycling Canada is, at best, flawed.
“More than anything, this experience has left many athletes questioning whether the sacrifices required to pursue high-performance sport in Canada are truly being supported by the system meant to develop them,” Goudswaard said, adding that she’s invested tens of thousands of dollars in her own money to pursue her Olympic dream. “What has been most frustrating throughout this process is the lack of ownership, leadership, and long-term planning.”