Leah Goldstein

Leah Goldstein (born February 4, 1969, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is a professional Canadian-Israeli road racing cyclist, former 1989 World Bantamweight Kickboxing Champion, and Israel's 1998 Duathlon champion.^[1][2] In 2021, she became the first woman to win the overall solo division of the Race Across America (RAAM).^[3][4]

Born in Vancouver, Canada, to Israeli parents, Goldstein was raised in Israel when her family made aliyah.^[5] At the age of 17 she won the Bantamweight World Kickboxing Championship.^[3] She spent 9 years in the Israeli commandos and secret police.^[6] She returned to Canada in the late 1990s.^[7] Goldstein lives in Vernon, British Columbia.^[8]

A natural athlete, at 17 years of age Goldstein won the 1989 World Bantamweight Kickboxing Championship.^[5][9]

Goldstein was Israel's 1998 duathlon (run-bike-run) champion.^[1][10][9] Shortly before the 2004 Olympics, she broke her hand in a race in Pennsylvania. And then in 2005, after winning 9 of her first 11 races she was involved in a horrific crash during the Cascade Classic that almost ended her career. She was hospitalized for two and a half months and told she would never walk without a cane.^[3]

In 2008 Goldstein won the Israeli national women's road cycling championships in both time trials and road racing. In 2009 she repeated as national champion in both events.

In 2011, Goldstein won the women's solo category of Race Across America (RAAM).^[11][12] In 2019, she came in second in the women's division and fifth overall in RAAM. In June 2021, she won the overall solo division for this 3,000 mile race in 11 days, three hours. and three minutes.^[13][3][14]

Goldstein wrote a book about her life entitled No Limits; The Powerful True Story of Leah Goldstein-World Champion Kickboxer, Ultra Endurance Cyclist, Israeli Undercover Police Officer (2016).^[15]

In February 2024, Goldstein became the topic of controversy when she was removed from her spot as keynote speaker at an Ottawa International Women’s Day event, after she had accepted an invitation, as a result of her time in the IDF.^[16][5] She said: "I am zero political when I speak. Honestly, there is nothing political about my presentation. I just talk about the crap that I went through and the crap that most women go through, and they still do, and how I handled it."^[5][16] Goldstein noted: "As a Jewish woman, I would never be offended if a Palestinian woman were to speak about her obstacles and life journey. I thought that’s what women were supposed to do for each other – listen and support!”^[16] Deborah Lyons, Canada’s former ambassador to Israel and the Liberal-appointed special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, called it “just another example of the erasure and silencing of Jews going on across Canada and around the world."^[7]

• Official website