2018 Olympic Gold Medalist Meagan Duhamel Unveils Her Fitness & Diet Secrets

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford did it again this time, wowing the audience with a powerful free skate in the team event and claiming the top spot for Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Radford and Duhamel scored 148.51, over 10 points better than the second-place Italian team of Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotaretk.

Meagan Duhamel is a Canadian pair skater. With partner Eric Radford, she is a two-time world champion (2015, 2016), an Olympic silver medalist in the team event, two-time Four Continents champion (2013, 2015), 2014–15 Grand Prix Final champion, and six-time Canadian national champion (2012–17).

Meagan Duhamel shares her spectacular journey in this exclusive interview with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

You are a two-time world champion (2015, 2016), an Olympic silver medalist in the team event, two-time Four Continents champion (2013, 2015), 2014–15 Grand Prix Final champion, and six-time Canadian national champion (2012–17). Walk us through this spectacular journey and tell us how it all began?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

This beautiful journey with the sport of figure skating all started when I was 3 years old. My mom and dad registered me for the CanSkate program, which taught young kids the basics of ice skating. My older sister also took skating lessons, and as I watched her progress to a higher level, I wanted to follow her and do what she was doing. Eventually, I fell in love with figure skating. I studied the sport since I was about 6 years old. Reading books on skating, watching skating on TV and VHS tapes every chance I could and once the internet became more accessible, I started researching my favourite figure skaters on the internet. I wanted to learn how they reached the Olympics and I wanted to do whatever it took so I could get there one day as well. I moved away from home when I was 14 years old to train at an elite training centre just outside of Toronto, Ontario and that’s when my journey truly began.

I started competing internationally, representing Canada and wearing a red jacket that said CANADA across the back. That was the greatest feeling in the World. In 2007 I had the opportunity to move to Montreal to train as a pairs skater with a former Olympian, Craig Buntin. This was too good an opportunity to pass down, so I jumped on the chance, packed my bags, got a job to support my training and competition expenses and I felt like I was on the path to finally becoming an Olympian myself. After 2 years of competing at the World Championships, we unfortunately failed to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and I thought that my skating career was coming to an end. I was already 24 years old and I thought this was a sign that it was time to move on from the sport and pursue other interests, but at the encouragement of my coach (now husband), Bruno Marcotte, I began a new skating chapter with Eric Radford.

We both had unfulfilled dreams of representing Canada at the Olympic Games and we thought we’d give it one last chance together. We quickly gelled and became a highly ranked team internationally in our first season competing together. Every year we set personal goals and every year we surpassed our own expectations and in 2014 we found ourselves FINALLY at the Olympic Games. It was a surreal moment and I remember skating over the Olympic rings that were painted on the ice and just getting chills. It was truly a dream come true and to stand on the podium and win the silver medal with all my friends with Team Canada was such a special experience. In the individual pairs competition, we didn’t skate our best and found ourselves in 7th place. This was discouraging because when I got off the ice, I felt regret and disappointment.

I wasn’t proud of myself or my efforts, and theres no worse feeling than this. That feeling is why we continued to compete after Sochi. It was to experience this beautiful sport through a different lens. We wanted to be happy and to enjoy every moment. We didn’t want to worry about what people were thinking of us, or how the judges were judging us. We wanted to be ourselves and do it our way and go back to the Olympics and feel proud. After we developed this new mental approach, we had an undefeated season when we won our first World Title and in 2016 we defended our World Title with the best performances of our entire career. Now we are getting ready for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea and our goals are simple. We want to be happy when we skate, we want to enjoy the moment and when our music finishes and we’ve done the best that we could do, we want to feel proud. I’ve learned that the feeling of pride is way more memorable than winning a gold medal.

All content on this site is copyright of Women Fitness and no part of any article found on this site may be reproduced without an express permission and highlighted, do follow link crediting http://www.womenfitness.net/ or preferably the original page as the source. This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.

All Written Content Copyright © 2017 Women Fitness

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Introduce us to a day in your life, preparing for the competitions.

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

A day in my life. Oh boy! So, I wake up at 5:30 am and I pack my husbands lunch and we walk our dogs (A beagle and a dachshund mix). My husband leaves to work at 6:00 am and I do some yoga to start my day. Then I make my morning coffee (I love coffee) and sit down to read some of my favourite blogs, mindbodygreen.com and wellandgood.com

I am out the door at 7:45 to my first training session of the day. Monday and Wednesdays I have strength and conditioning training at 8:30-9:30, Tuesdays I do a classical stretch class called Essentrics from 8:30-9:30 and Friday’s I do pilates from 8:30-9:30 (Thursdays I get to stay home a bit longer and lounge!!) I train on the ice with my partner Eric Radford from 11:00-2:00 and then after training it’s usually a trip to the physiotherapist, massage therapist, accucpunturist or osteopath. I usually get home in time for dinner with my husband and an evening to study (I’m studying Naturopathic Nutrition for Sports and Fitness) and if possible, more yoga before bed.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine that you may like to share?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

My favorite workout that has helped my body so much is essentrics. It’s a full body workout that is labelled as “Classical stretch”. This workout Strengthens while lengthening and stretching the muscles. It decompressing the joints, tendons and ligaments to withstand demands of sport. It also incorporates body movement exercises set to music and helps with posture and flexibility.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Do you take some special diet or have a strict menu that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

I have been a vegan now for almost 10 years!! And I also studied Holistic Nutrition and now I am studying Naturopathic Nutrition for Sports and Fitness, so food is a big passion of mine. I believe is an organic, clean and natural whole foods diet. Food is medicine and if we eat properly we can take care of our bodies so we can preform and live at an optimal level.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

What are your Top 5 Favorite Vegan Recipes?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

My favourite vegan recipes! Good question. I love my quinoa breakfast parfait and breakfast of champions, both of which can be found on my blog. Also my chickpea casserole, which is also featured on my blog. I also love anything by Angela Lidden with Ohsheglows.com. Ohsheglows was my first vegan blog that I followed and her recipes are all amazing. They never fail to amaze me.

Video

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and budding skaters who all are your fans, they shall like to know from you, what they should do for their climb to ladder of success in this field?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

I think the most important thing is to remain positive. It’s easy to fall into a trap of feeling negative or discouraged but if you allowed that to happen, it’s harder to get out of that hole. There is always something positive in every experience and we need to stay focused on that. I also encourage people to dedicate themselves 110% to their goals. You can’t ever achieve greatness if you aren’t fully dedicated. Dive in and emerge yourself with your mission and your dream. Live with passion and purpose.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

How did you feel before and after winning the silver medal at the 2017 Four Continents Championships?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

Before the Four Continents Championships this past February, 2017, I was feeling strong and ready. This event was being held at the Olympic venue, as the Olympic test event, and my partner and I had just finished a fantastic Nationals where we won a record breaking 6th National title. I actually arrived in Korea and my skates didn’t make it. My luggage was lost en route to Korea and I couldn’t practice during our official practice session because I had no skates or training clothes. This was difficult but I stayed focused and did a lot of visualization for my preparation and luckily my skates arrived the day before the competition began. Unfortunately, we made some mistakes during the competition, but I left the competition with positive energy and motivation to work harder for the future.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Who has been your greatest influence and motivator in your success in the field of your career in competitive skating?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

I have had so many people that have been my motivation during my career. Of course my parents, because I couldn’t have done all of this myself. I needed their support during my younger years, emotionally and financially and they were always there for me to encourage me during difficult times. Now I would say my husband is my biggest influence. He is also my skating coach. It was him that suggested Eric and I skate together as a team, he had a vision of us before I believed it was even possible. He always remained positive and open-minded with Eric and I and he always allowed me to stay focused on the task at hand. My husband is also great with helping me keep my feet on the ground and keeping me humble. Without him, Eric and I couldn’t be where we are and we owe him everything.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

When playing professional sports, athletes often face injuries and other difficulties, would you like to tell the audience about how to cope up and make a comeback after an injury?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

I experienced a terrible injury in 2009/2010 as I was preparing for the Olympic qualification. I had a herniated disc and 2 stress fractures in my lower back, which resulted in my right leg going numb for almost 3 months. Some mornings I couldn’t get out of bed, but sheer willpower pushed me through my training and competitions during this time. Because it was an Olympic year, there wasn’t a day to waste and I had to train through all the pain. After my season was finished, I took some time away from the sport to heal my body and during this process I discovered pilates, essentrics and yoga. I learned how they could help my injuries and possibly prevent injuries like this from happening again.

Maintenance is so important and I became dedicated to a new way of training after this injury. I see my therapists on a regular basis, even if I have no injuries, because I need help to maintain my body’s optimal state. Taking care of my body became my #1 priority after this injury and thankfully I never had a bad injury like this ever again.

Video

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Share with us the role of yoga in your life.

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

As I said, I started getting into yoga back around 2010 when I was seriously injured. It was very much about the physical practice at the beginning. Over the years, I have really been drawn to the spiritual aspect of yoga. I meditate on a regular basis and practice different types of yoga. At first I only did Moksha power flow hot yoga classes, because it was an intense workout. I have now learned to appreciate yin and restorative yoga, and I also do daily yoga through a great website called yogaglo. They have such a wide range of classes offered and teachers to guide me and when I am on the road I can continue my daily yoga practice. I feel like yoga has now become a lifestyle for me, it’s my way of life.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Tell us about your website www.lutzofgreens.com.

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

I started my website lutzofgreens because I want to inspire athletes of all kinds to become their greatest self. I want to educate people on wellness and healthy living and help people open their minds to a more natural way of life. I am still studying, so I still have a long way to go before developing lutzofgreens into a business, but this is my goal for the future. To write a book and open a cafe/wellness shop where people can meet, eat, do yoga and essentrics and inspire each other. I want to create a wellness program for athletes as well, to educate them about nutrition and proper training, and starting lutzofgreens is my base which I hope I can continue to grow once my competitive career comes to an end.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

What do you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for our visitors on our 18th Anniversary?

Ms. Meagan Duhamel:

I’d like to thank all of WomenFitness readers for their dedication over the past 18 years. Health, wellness and fitness is such an important part of our lives and I am truly inspired that WomenFitness has such a great following of dedicated individuals. Keep striving to reach your optimal potential in all areas of life!

Follow her on:

• Facebook
• Twitter

Women Fitness Team extends our heartfelt gratitude to Meagan Duhamel for taking out time from her busy schedule and doing this interview with us.

Video