Mel Pemble

Mel Pemble
Personal information
Full nameMelissa Pemble
National teamCanada
Born (2000-04-22) April 22, 2000
Lancashire, England
Home townVictoria, British Columbia, Canada
Websitemelpemble.weebly.com
Sport
Sport
  • Para alpine skiing
  • Para cycling
C3
Achievements and titles
World finals
Medal record
Women's track cycling
Representing  Canada
Track World Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 Saint-QuentinOmnium C3
Gold medal – first place2022 Saint-QuentinScratch race C3
Gold medal – first place2023 GlasgowOmnium C3
Gold medal – first place2025 Rio de JaneiroSprint C3
Silver medal – second place2023 GlasgowScratch race C3
Silver medal – second place2024 Rio de JaneiroTime trial C3
Silver medal – second place2025 Rio de JaneiroTime trial C3
Silver medal – second place2025 Rio de JaneiroElimination race C3
Bronze medal – third place2023 GlasgowTime trial C3
Bronze medal – third place2024 Rio de JaneiroOmnium C3
Bronze medal – third place2025 Rio de JaneiroScratch race C3
Parapan American Games
Gold medal – first place2023 SantiagoPursuit C1–3
Silver medal – second place2023 SantiagoTime trial C1–5

Melissa Pemble (born April 22, 2000) is a Canadian para alpine skier and para cyclist. She won back-to-back gold medals in omnium C3 at the 2022 and 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships. She won two medals in para-cycling at the 2023 Parapan American Games.

Early life and education

Pemble was born in Lancashire, England with cerebral palsy affecting her right side.[1] Her parents thought it would be good for her to take up a sport to help with her balance and coordination.[2] She moved to Victoria, British Columbia at age 9 with her parents.[3] She twisted her knee after an early skiing lesson in France, but took up para-skiing again after moving to Canada.[1]

Pemble graduated from the Canadian Sports School-Victoria.[4]

Career

Para-skiing

At the 2015 Canada Winter Games, Pemble won the women’s Giant Slalom Para female race.[5] She also won a silver medal in slalom para alpine skiing at the Games.[6]

Pemble competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics as the youngest Canadian skier at the games.[7] She finished eleventh in women's giant slalom,[8] and women's super-G,[9] and ninth in women's downhill[10] and women's super combined.[11] She did not finish in women's slalom.[12]

She competed at the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships. Pemble made the decision to end her para-skiing career in 2020.[1]

Para-cycling

When she was 14, the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific's Podium Search program identified Pemble for para-cycling. She competed at the provincial level and used the sport as cross-training for skiing. She was coached by Kurt Innes, who later coached her upon her return to the sport in 2020 after a five-year break from the sport.[1]

She made her world debut in para-cycling competing at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, at which she won a gold medal in omnium[13] and scratch race.[14][15] She set a para-cycling world record in the non-medaled 200-metre sprint in 2022.[16][17] She also placed third in the 500m time trial and fourth in the four-kilometre individual pursuit.[1]

At the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Pemble won gold in omnium, a bronze medal in the time trial event, and a silver in the women’s C3 scratch race.[18]

Pemble competed at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile. She won the gold medal in the women's 3,000-metre C1-3 individual pursuit.[19] She finished fourth in the women's individual road race C1–3[20] and seventh in the women's individual road time trial C1–5.[21]

She won a silver medal in the women’s C3 500m time trial and a bronze medal in the women's C3 omnium at the 2024 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships.[22] Also at the 2024 UCI Para Cycling Championships, Pemble placed 5th in the Individual Pursuit and 6th in the Scratch Race.[23]

Pemble competed in para-cycling at the 2024 Summer Paralympics where she set the world record for the 500m time trial in the C3 category.[24] At the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, she won a gold medal in the women’s C3 sprint, silver in the kilo and in the elimination race, and a bronze in the scratch race.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Smart, Zack (November 12, 2022). "Mel Pemble's journey from Winter Paralympian to Para-cycling world champion". cbc.ca.
  2. ↑ Dheenshaw, Cleve (March 9, 2018). "She took up skiing to help with cerebral palsy, now she's at Paralympics". Times Colonist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  3. ↑ Dheenshaw, Cleeve (November 26, 2023). "Pemble's gold caps six-medal performance by Island athletes at Para Pan Am Games". Victoria Times Colonist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  4. ↑ Dheenshaw, Cleve (May 25, 2019). "Canadian Sport School-Victoria a pipeline to national teams". Times Colonist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  5. ↑ Dheenshaw, Cleve (February 17, 2015). "Pemble gives Island first medal at Canada Winter Games". Times Colonist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  6. ↑ Dheenshaw, Cleve (March 1, 2015). "Islanders made mark at Canada Winter Games". Times Colonist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ Depner, Wolf (February 26, 2018). "Saanich skier reaching for top of podium in South Korea". Saanich News. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  8. ↑ "PyeongChang 2018 - alpine-skiing - womens-giant-slalom-standing". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "PyeongChang 2018 - alpine-skiing - womens-super-g-standing". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ "PyeongChang 2018 - alpine-skiing - womens-downhill-standing". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ "PyeongChang 2018 - alpine-skiing - womens-super-combined-standing". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ "PyeongChang 2018 - alpine-skiing - womens-slalom-standing". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Canadian Para-cyclist Mel Pemble crowned omnium world champion". CBC. October 3, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Mel Pemble hauls in 1st Canadian gold medal at Para-cycling track worlds". cbc.ca. October 21, 2022.
  15. ↑ Hansen, Matt (October 21, 2022). "Para-cycling world championships day 2: Mel Pemble wins scratch". Canadian Cycling Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Pemble Wins Rainbow Jersey at Para Cycling World Championships". Cycling BC. October 21, 2022.
  17. ↑ Dheenshaw, Cleve (October 21, 2022). "Victoria cyclist eyes Paris 2024 after gold medal at world championships". Times Colonist. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  18. ↑ "B.C.'s Mel Pemble clinches women's C3 omnium title at worlds". The Globe and Mail. August 8, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  19. ↑ "GOLD MEDAL: Victoria's Mel Pemble captures 3,000m C1-3 individual pursuit Parapan Am title". CBC. 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  20. ↑ Hansen, Matt (November 28, 2023). "Canadian Paracyclists take more two medals at Parapan Am Games road races". Canadian Cycling Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Women's C1-5 Individual Time Trial Results" (PDF).
  22. ↑ "Canada's Mel Pemble claims bronze in omnium at Para track cycling worlds in Rio". CBC. March 23, 2024. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Canada wins four medals at UCI Para Cycling World Championships in Rio | Canadian Paralympic Committee". Paralympic Canada. March 26, 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
  24. ↑ "CANADA'S MEL PEMBLE BREAKS WORLD RECORD IN 500M TIME TRIAL AT PARALYMPIC GAMES". CPC. August 31, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  25. ↑ Daignault, Louis (2025-10-20). "Para sport notebook: Pemble pedals to four medals, including gold, at Para cycling track world championships". Canadian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
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