Leah Goldstein is one tough cookie. It appears that whatever she puts her mind to, she pushes through any reasons why she might fail, creating a new path for other women to follow along the way.
Born to an Israeli family in Canada, she was bullied at an early age and the many Bruce Lee movies she watched inspired her to take up Kickboxing. Suffering a spinal injury, she was told she shouldn’t fight again and she chose to ignore this ‘advice’ and at age 17, she won the Bantamweight World Kickboxing Championship against a 25-year old fighter a foot taller than she was!
Choosing to complete the Israeli compulsory 2-year army work, she set her intention to become a Commando Instructor, something no female had ever accomplished. And, overcoming much resistance, she achieved this and also became a Krav Maga specialist.
Leaving Israel after 10 years in the army, she turned her attention to cycling and pursued a brilliant 10-year career as a professional cyclist in Europe and North America, racing in the Tour de France after only three years of cycling. Leah was winning local races and headed toward the 2004 Olympics when she broke her hand after hitting a pothole during a race in Pennsylvania.
Unable to compete in the Olympics, she took up endurance cycling and in 2011, Leah went on to win the Women’s Solo Division in Race Across America, deemed the world’s toughest road-race.
And, on the evening June 26th,2021 Leah Goldstein made history. At 52 years old, Leah became the 1st female ever to WIN the overall SOLO division of the gruelling Race Across Across America in it’s 39 year history.
Leah’s personal memoir “No Limits” was published on June 1st, 2015. Leah has been featured in countless and articles and interviewed recently on multiple TV news broadcasts in Canada and the United States.
Timestamp for talk:
• 1:53 – Leah shares her sporting background
• 2:51 – Leah further explains her athletic history
• 5:13 – Leah talks about the mental challenge of doing an endurance event
• 8:35 – Leah talks about how she’s able to do extremely hard challenges
• 10:28 – Leah talks about cycling with females and loving the sport
• 12:13 – Leah talks about the process of writing the book
• 13:53 – Leah explains how each person is their own greatest asset
Any links discussed:
Leah Goldstein
Race Across America Clip of Leah’s RAAM journey: video1, video2
