A former CFL standout is trading in his football pads for a bobsleigh helmet this winter, and making history in the process.
Keaton Bruggeling, known to Hamilton Tiger-Cats fans as a wide receiver, is now in Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Now in his third season of bobsleigh, the Niagara native says last year was the turning point when he realized the Olympics could be within reach.
After beginning the sport while training for the CFL Combine, encouragement from two Olympians at Ottawa’s K&M Strength and Conditioning helped steer him onto the ice track. The explosive strength developed through football, Olympic lifts, squats and cleans, has translated seamlessly to the sled.
This winter, Bruggeling earned another distinction: Niagara’s only Winter Olympian.
Named to the team in late January, he wrapped up the World Cup circuit in Latvia, Switzerland and Germany before heading to Italy. Speaking from the Olympic Village, he described the accommodations as “a nice mobile home.”
He’ll return to Hamilton afterward, having just re-signed with the Tiger-Cats for another CFL season.
(Written by: Matt Latour)