From Heat To Ice

Bellomi, Bruno. “Do Calor Ao Gelo.” Jornal A Cidade [Ribeirão Preto] 30 Dec. 2012

This article appeared in the Ribeirão Preto, Brazil local newspaper. We used Google Translate and then we ran it by Leila herself to make sure we had it right! Leila will be in Kenora this Sunday for the Provincial Sprint Championships.

Leila Mostaço-Guidolin, a 29 year old athlete from Ribeirão Preto in Brazil, has been living in Winnipeg since 2010 with her husband who moved here to work on his PhD in Biomechanical Engineering.  Since the average temperature in Ribeirão Preto is +23 degrees, you can imagine the difficulty she had adjusting to the cold winters in Canada where temperatures can drop to -35 degrees with a -42 degree wind chill!  She’s now generally adapted to our temperatures, but the temperature still surprises her sometimes, she jokes.

Leila has always been passionate about sports.  She was a former competitive swimmer and has participated in triathlon, volleyball, and basketball.  She was introduced to cross country skiing in 2008. After the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, she decided she would like to act on her dream of participating in the Olympics.  She is currently part of the Brazilian National Team, and has her sights set on the Games in 2018.

She recently competed at the Yellowstone Ski Festival in West Yellowstone, Montana in November, and in Thunder Bay in January.  Next on her list are FIS races in St Paul MN, Ontario, and Whistler. She has been training with Brent Bottomley on Team WindChill since the Fall of 2011.