Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards
(Skeleton)

Mellisa Hollingsworth, a descendant of the Kingsep and Mottus pioneer families, shown during a skeleton event at the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006. Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards won a bronze medal in the sport of skeleton at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. Some of her other achievements in the sport of skeleton include:

  • 6-time medalist in Canadian Skeleton Championships, including a gold medal in 1996.
  • Silver medalist at the World Championships in 2000.
  • World Cup Champion in 2006.

Mellisa Hollingsworth won a bronze medal in the Skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Mellisa is a proud fifth-generation descendant of the Mottus family, who are amongst Alberta's Estonian pioneers. Mellisa has been active in the sport for over ten years. She attributed much of her success to her custom-made sleds, designed and manufactured by her cousin Ryan Davenport.

Mellisa's great-grandfather, Gustav Mottus, left Estonia at the age of 21 and eventually settled on a homestead west of Eckville, Alberta in 1911.

Copyright © 2007 - 2011 Heritage Community Foundation and
the Alberta Estonian Heritage Society. All Rights Reserved

Heritage Community Foundation Alberta Source Alberta Lottery Fund This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada's New Horizons for Seniors Program
Alberta Estonian Heritage Society National Estonian Foundation of Canada Estonian Ministry of Education and Research

Alberta's Estonian Heritage