'Disrespected': Women watch from the sidelines as men hold them back from the competition

CBC

08-04-2025

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"I look at the other teams, and the women are just benched," said Mariam after the Ultimate Canal Crossover Challenge on Episode 5 of Canada's Ultimate Challenge, Season 3. "It makes my heart sad because women are continuously told that they're not good enough, or they're not strong enough."
Oh boy(s). How did we get here? Three remaining teams plus the newly formed Team Wild Card gathered at the Sault Ste. Marie Canal Historic Site for a difficult challenge. After racing down the canal in a canoe, they had to climb and cross the canal on a slackline — as many times as they could for two hours — with a fierce wind threatening to throw them off balance. One fall, at any time, and the team's count would fall back to zero.
Team Red's Captain Mark, who had some experience on the slackline, realized how hard this challenge would be. "There's wind, the slacklines are going back and forth, it's nuts. It's extremely hard in the middle."
Kelly, who had just stepped up as the captain of Team Yellow knew that she had never slacklined before and offered to go across first and support the team members who felt more confident. But as the race wore on, both Eddie and Steve were gassed and Kelly wanted in, "I'm ready to go, like, put me in. It only makes sense." (Remember, Kelly was the captain AND a professional hockey player.)
Around the same time, Santina on Team Red said, "Let me go one more time," and Mark replied, "OK, Tee, I have to pull captain rank here."
Santina was ultimately okay with the call. "Although I was capable of doing it, Mark knew he could get it done quicker. The more you practised, the more comfortable and efficient you become, and he already had that experience," said Santina afterwards, "I knew that stepping back was exactly what my team needed in that moment."
"Everyone was completely able to do this challenge, whether you're a female or male, it doesn't matter," said McKiya. "This may not have been my strong suit as far as balance wise so I was OK that my teammates took over [but] I wish I did more passes."
Kelly and Miriam, however, did not feel the same.
Team Yellow ignores the one pro athlete on their team
Kelly grew increasingly livid: "Being a professional athlete on the sidelines, I was annoyed at my teammates for not seeing the talent they had in front of them and felt I was not seen because I am a woman."
"I can do it," she offered a gassed-looking Steve. "Not with this, Kelly. You know what I mean, you don't want to risk… if you don't mind just chilling here." said Steve.
When Eddie returned to the position, she told him, "I wanna go."
"You do?" asked Eddie, who insisted he was warmed up and ignored his captain. "I am an elite athlete. They're not even thinking twice about that? I'm disappointed," said Kelly.
Shortly after Kelly was sidelined, teammate Steve fell off the slackline and tumbled into the canal, resetting their crossing count back to zero. With less than 30 minutes left in the challenge, there was no way to catch up to the other teams.
After Steve's fall, Kelly finally joined in. The team made 15 crossings in less than 30 minutes compared to 21 they made in the 90 minutes prior. Many hands (and feet, in this case) clearly make light work. "When I finally got out there," remembered Kelly, "I was the only team member to go back and forth without stopping, proving them wrong."
There were some serious talks about the challenge afterwards. "I discussed it with our team but also with Team Yellow and Team Blue," said Mariam. "It's deeply engraved in society that women will slow us down and that they can't perform."
Later in the car, Kelly was able to vent her disappointment in her teammates. "If I was a dude, you'd be one hundred per cent 'you got this, you got this.'" She reminded them how quickly she competed in the challenge once she got to go in. Their response? They weren't thinking, they had "tunnel vision."
"Disrespected," is how Kelly says she felt at the time. "If I were in this situation again, I would have the courage to speak up, believe and fight for myself." It's a lesson for us all — even in 2025.