Mia Manganello

Hobbies	Art, cooking pastry, fostering dogs, travel, cycling. (wcpo.com, 12 Feb 2020; Facebook profile, 14 Jun 2018)
Other sports	She competed in roller speed skating at national youth level in the United States of America. She has also raced professionally in road cycling with US-based team DNA Pro Cycling. (visitdallasdna.com, 01 Nov 2016; miamanganello.com, 17 Oct 2016; pezcyclingnews.com, 05 Jun 2020)

Reason for choosing this sport

She attended a speed skating camp after being inspired to try the sport by watching the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. "After an amazing week on the ice I became hooked and decided on my future right then and there."

Most influential person in career

Her parents, and US speed skater Chris Witty. (Athlete, 10 Nov 2017; miamanganello.com, 17 Oct 2016; weartv.com, 24 Apr 2018)

When and where did you begin this sport?

She began roller speed skating in 1998 in Crestview, FL, United States of America. She made the transition to speed skating in 2003 in Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America.

Sporting philosophy / motto	"If you can't stop thinking about it, don't stop working for it." (wcpo.com, 12 Feb 2020)
Other information	MULTI TALENTED She retired from speed skating after missing out on a place on the US team for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and began competing professionally in road cycling. She returned to speed skating in early 2016 after a six-year absence with the goal of competing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, where she went on to win a bronze medal. She rejoined US-based road cycling team DNA Pro Cycling for the 2020 season, and says she plans to compete in both sports. "The toughest part is knowing which sport takes priority, because I'm not sure it would be possible to go all in on both sports. So right now my cycling training takes a bit of a backseat and comes in when it can while skating has priority. This means I haven't been able to put in the traditional amount of training for cycling one would in the winter months because I'm having to travel the world and compete at World Cups for skating. It's all a fine line to make sure I'm giving myself enough rest as well to avoid over-training or burnout." (pezcyclingnews.com, 05 Jun 2020; espn.com, 08 Jan 2017; miamanganello.com, 17 Oct 2016; usacycling.org, 16 Jun 2022) HOMETOWN HONOUR The hometown where she grew up - Crestview, FL, United States of America - celebrated 'Mia Manganello Day' after she won a bronze medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. "I left at [age] 10 and I never came back. But it [Crestview] has always been my core support. My family and I had a big impact on the town, we had an Italian restaurant named after me [in the town]. My best friends are also my kindergarten classmates when I was in Crestview." (weartv.com, 24 Apr 2018) FAMILY SUPPORT Her parents sold the Italian restaurant they ran in Florida in order to move to Salt Lake City, UT, where there was better access to training facilities for their daughter. "When I was 13 years old my parents uprooted our lives in Florida and moved to Salt Lake City so that I could pursue my Olympic dream." (weartv.com, 24 Apr 2018; miamanganello.com, 17 Oct 2016)
Memorable sporting achievement	Winning a bronze medal in team pursuit at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (pezcyclingnews.com, 05 Jun 2020; Athlete, 15 Nov 2019)
Hero / Idol	US speed skater and cyclist Eric Heiden. (Athlete, 15 Nov 2019)

www.miamanganello.com/
www.facebook.com/MiaManganello/

Training Regime

She trains at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, UT, United States of America.

Injuries

In March 2022 she missed the World Cup event in Thialf, Netherlands, after she tested positive for COVID-19. (Instagram profile, 11 Mar 2022)