There are not many female Indigenous Olympians. They have many obstacles to overcome to be able to compete in international sports. If someone does not sponsor them, they must find a way to participate on their own. In these next two posts we will honor some of the women who persevered and were able to participate in the sport they loved. Two of the women who have excelled in their own favorite sports are Mary Spencer and Adrienne Lyle.
Mary Spencer (b. 1984, Ojibwe, Olympian Boxer)
Mary Spencer is an Ojibwe from the Cape Croker First Nation. She was the fourth of five children born in Wiarton, Ontario. As a child she enjoyed many sports including basketball, volleyball, soccer, and track and field. Her family moved a lot and eventually settled in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She loved basketball and played for the Ontario team at the North American Indigenous Games.
In 2002 at age 17, she became passionate about boxing and joined the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club. Her talent soon became noticed and she started to train with three-time Olympic boxing coach Charlie Stewart. Only five months later Mary won her amateur debut match. In 2003 she became Ontario’s 66 kg champion. In 2004 she won her first of many Canadian championships in the 66 kg division. With incredible skill and athleticism, she remained undefeated in her second season of international tournaments in such places as Italy, Poland, and Taiwan. She won her first Pan-American championship in Argentina and her first world championship in Podolsk, Russia in 2005. As her international fame grew, Mary became known as one of the world’s finest boxers.
Mary Spencer suffered her first loss in 2006 but won a bronze medal at the World Championships. In 2007 she won a gold medal at the Pan-American Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In the same year she won her fourth Canadian championship. She took a silver medal at the Witch Cup in Hungary.
She dominated international competition in 2008. Mary won her fifth Canadian title and was undefeated throughout the season. She claimed her fourth Pan-American title that year and her second title from the World Championships. Not surprisingly, she was named Canadian Boxer of the Year for the fourth time.
By 2010 Mary was looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics. In 2011 she won the Canadian title and another world championship in Barbados. She took gold at the Pan-American games. She won a spot on the Olympic team and began training for the 2012 Olympics to be held in London.
Although she was the top-ranked boxer in the world, Mary lost the 2012 world championship in China. This would have disqualified her for the Olympics, but she received an opening-round bye to give her the opportunity. Her Olympic debut was disappointing as she finished fifth. Mary went home to Canada as a celebrity, however. She became a spokesperson for women’s boxing. She also signed up with CoverGirl magazine and made many media appearances.
Mary has won eight national titles, five Pan-American titles and three world titles. She is considered one of Canada’s premier boxing champions. Today she spends her time helping Aboriginal youth in sports.
Mary became a member of Motivate Canada’s GEN7 Aboriginal Role Model Initiative. She works with First Nation Communities to develop sport, physical activity, and empowerment programs. She has used her notoriety to make real change within indigenous communities. She encourages Aboriginal youth to live healthy active lifestyles and become leaders in their communities. She was instrumental in building a boxing gym in the Cree First Nation.
In 2013, Mary became a mentor with CIBC’s Team Next program which provides funding and mentorship to young athletes who want to represent Canada in sports. She would go on to receive a 2014 Indspire Award — for her accomplishments in sports and her work in the Indigenous community — and a 2017 meritorious service decoration from the Governor General.
Adrienne Lyle (b. 1985, Cherokee, Olympian, Dressage Rider)
Adrienne Lyle is one of the younger women in the sport of dressage. She was born and raised with modest means on Whidbey Island, Washington on a small cattle ranch. Horses were always a part of her life even though that was not the main business of her family’s ranch. But Adrienne and her cousin Maya Black spent hours on horseback. Adrienne explained that this early love for horses gave her the background she needed to go on to become a champion dressage rider.
“From the time we were little, we would hop on the ponies and head onto the ranch and literally ride until the sun went down,” Adrienne said. “Even then, it often wasn’t enough, and we would sneak out of the house at night and go galloping bareback across the field in the moonlight. We spent every waking moment on a horse, riding through the woods and fields and swimming them on the beaches. There is no substitute for hours in the saddle. You learn to anticipate the horse’s reactions to things, so the way they move and act becomes second nature to you. Soon you are seeing the world through the horse’s eyes, and you begin to think like a horse. If you can’t think like a horse, you will never be a good rider or trainer.”[1]
She began taking riding lessons when she was 9 years old. She began on a $200 pony named Salsa. She began to focus on dressage when she was 13. Later she began her own training business.
In 2005 Adrienne worked part-time with a successful dressage rider, Debbie McDonald at Peggy and Parry Thomas’ River Grove Farm in Idaho. She soon became a fulltime assistant trainer. She began riding Wizard, an Oldenburg gelding by Weltmeyer, in 2006. They were the Under-25 National “Young Adult” Grand Prix champions. They remained together and went on to participate in their first Grand Prix in 2009.
Wizard took Adrienne to the Olympics in 2012 in London and to the World Equestrian Games in Normandy in 2014. Adrienne won her spot at the Olympics because of her expertise in guiding Wizard with slight movements of her hands, her weight, and her feet through a series of complex maneuvers. Her friend Debbie also attributed Adrienne’s success to her feeling of compassion for the horse and her intrinsic feel for timing. Wizard won many awards before retiring in 2015 after straining a suspensory at age 16. He passed away earlier this year at age 27.
With her horse, Salvino, Adrienne competed at the 2018 World Equestrian Games. She describes Salvino as sweet-tempered and people oriented.
Her other horse, Harmony’s Duval has been with her since before he was saddle broke. In 2021 at the Global Dressage Festival in Florida, she and Harmony’s Duval rode to victory in the CD13 Grand Prix. It was the inaugural international event in the world.
Today, Adrienne spends time with friends and enjoys teaching riding. She is willing to spend time with anyone who has a love of horses and needs her help. She loves to go to concerts and hike and camp in the mountains of Idaho and Colorado.
[1] From: https://dressagetoday.com/lifestyle/15-facts-dressage-olympian-adrienne-lyle/. You can read more at https://dressagetoday.com/personalities/girls-big-dreams-53376-2/
