For Episode 29 of our Gryph Nation Radio podcast, we catch up with a pair of proud Gryphon alumni who, following their days as student-athletes at the University of Guelph, have gone on to earn the coveted titles of Canadian Olympians. With Thursday, February 4 marking exactly one year away from the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, we thought it would be the perfect time to catch up with Mirela Rahneva (Canadian Olympian in the women's skeleton in PyeongChang, 2018) and Cody Sorensen (Canadian Olympian in the men's 4-man bobsleigh, Sochi 2014).

Mirela "Mimi" Rahneva played four seasons with the Gryphons women's rugby from 2007 to 2010. During her time as a Gryphon, Mimi was a three-time OUA champion and four-time CIS bronze medalist while studying tourism management. Following her graduation, Mimi made a seamless transition from the rugby pitch to the sled, where she has gone on to become a fixture on the international circuit for skeleton. Mimi currently has her sights set on Beijing 2022 where she hopes to earn the title of two-time Olympian.

Ottawa native Cody Sorensen attended the University of Guelph from 2004 to 2008, competing on the Gryphons men's track and field team. During his days as a Gryphon student-athlete, Cody was a three-time national medalist in the men's 60m hurdles, and was a key part of an unforgettable 2007-08 season when the Guelph Gryphons were crowned national champions for the first time in program history (on both the men's and women's sides). After earning his undergrad from U of G in management economics and finance, Cody would move from the track to bobsleigh after turning heads at an open identifiction camp held by Bobsleigh Canada at York University. After serving as an alternate at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Cody would officially earn the title of Olympian at the 2014 Games in Sochi where he represented Canada in the four-man bobleigh alongside Justin Kripps, Jesse Lumsden and Ben Coakwell.