Tristen Chernove

Obstacles & Opportunities

Tristen Chernove is a Paralympic cycling champion who is set to compete at the Tokyo 2020ne Games! In 2009, he was diagnosed with Charcot Marie Tooth (CMT) disease which is a degenerative disease of the peripheral nervous system. In an effort to counteract the impacts of the disease, Tristen switched from competitive paddling to cycling. He is now a 13x World Champion, plus he earned a full set of medals from the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games—gold, silver, and bronze! In 2017, Tristen won every World Championship that exists for track and road Paracycling—something that had never been done before. He received ‘The People’s Choice Award’ Canadian Cyclist of the year for three consecutive years (2016-2017-2018) and has been nominated as Sport BC Athlete of the year for the past three years.

Through Tristen’s role on Cycling Canada Athlete’s Council, he was instrumental in implementing a cyclist to cyclist mentor program to bring cyclists together virtually throughout the pandemic. In July 2020, Tristen broke the BC Epic 1000 record by eight hours, and raised $40,000 for the Paralympic Foundation of Canada in the process!

Tristen lives in Cranbrook, BC, with his wife and two daughters. He is the President and CEO of Elevate Airports, and even received Cranbrook’s Business Person of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce.

As you will learn through our conversation, Tristen never does anything halfway. He is filled with passion and drive, and hopes that his legacy can be a vehicle for positive change towards a future full of opportunity, equality, accessibility and diversity in sport.