Pedal for the Medal: Paralympic Cyclist Elizabeth Mis Goes for Gold

We believe in celebrating our employee’s accomplishments – and that goes beyond what they achieve within our four walls. It’s important that we make time to recognize the significant personal achievements and milestones of our colleagues. Recognizing the personal passions of our employees is part of what makes our culture unique. In this spirit, we are thrilled to share the inspiring story of Elizabeth Mis, IS Developer. 

Elizabeth, born and raised in Northeastern Ohio, grew up differently than most other children. She was born with a club foot—a condition that caused her foot to be twisted internally at the ankle. When she was just 18 months old, she underwent corrective surgery and wore a cast for a long 8 months as her foot recovered. The procedure caused her right leg to be shorter than her left and permanently limited the mobility and flexibility in her right foot. 

“I didn’t try to let it affect me too much because I just wanted to be normal like everyone else—especially as a kid,” Elizabeth shared. Although she did not participate in organized sports growing up, she found other ways to excel and satisfy her ambitious spirit. Like any other child, she spent much time playing outside with friends and siblings, riding bikes around her neighborhood and having fun. 

Even as a child, Elizabeth was competitive and driven. She found her first passion in the world of music when she was just 9 years old. She started playing clarinet and decided to switch to playing saxophone a few years later. As a teenager, Elizabeth started gaining some serious traction while playing sax locally. She even connected with local producers. In 2007, she released her first album and became an acclaimed jazz musician and recording artist shortly after.  

In 2017, Elizabeth decided to trade in her saxophone for a road bike after watching cycling on TV. “I was inspired by the Rio Olympics when I saw the ladies racing at this amazing bike race. I was like “You can race bikes? That is so cool!” It wasn’t long after this revelation that she dove headfirst into this whole new world of cycling. She purchased her first road bike that year and began to master the art of riding and racing. She found a group of local cyclists to ride and train with and developed a fierce passion for the sport.  

What began as a personal challenge and a way to stay active quickly became a lifestyle and a part of who Elizabeth was. That’s why earlier this year when she found out that she qualified to participate in the Paralympic Cycling Olympic games, the decision to compete was an easy one.  

Elizabeth decided to begin the classification process for the Paralympic cycling event. She was evaluated by national classifiers to determine what category she would be placed in for the races. The categories, C1—C5, are differentiated by level of impairment with C1 being most impaired and C5 being least impaired. Elizabeth was placed in category C5. 

After completing the classification process successfully, Elizabeth had one task remaining to secure her spot on Team USA—competing in one of the opening Paralympic races. Her first qualifying race, held in April in Alabama, was the race to determine whether she would compete on Team USA in the World Cup taking place the following month. Qualification for the race was based upon performance and race completion time. The quicker the pace during the qualifying race, the more likely to be chosen to compete on the U.S. Team in the World Cup and Championship races. Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s pace did not secure her seat on Team USA this time around. 

“When I didn’t make the cut for the team in April, I knew I had three months to prepare again to try to get a little bit stronger and train a bit more for nationals.”  

And that is exactly what she did. Elizabeth spent her summer training, preparing and improving. She clocked hundreds of hours on the bike and in the gym to ensure her next race, scheduled in July, would be the race that qualified her for the U.S. Team. 

Her perseverance paid off after she was admitted onto Team USA at the July opening race held in Tennessee. Not only did she qualify to compete on Team USA, she also won the title of National Champion! It was a victorious race all around. 

Next stop: her first international race-- the 2022 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Quebec. The event was full of challenge, passion, and opportunity for Elizabeth. At her first race of the series, she placed 6th in the Time Trial and 7th in the Road Race. During the Road Race competition, Elizabeth was involved in a crash early on in the course. She was not hurt—but her bike was! Fortunately, she was able to get up and continue riding to the finish line.  

She placed 6th during her second Time Trail race and 8th in the second Road Race. Overall, Elizabeth was satisfied with her performance and enjoyed the event tremendously. Her participation in the International World Championship races was a dream come true. 

“I remember telling people after I bought my road bike, I want to work to go to the Olympics one day, and they all thought I was absolutely crazy for even just dreaming about that happening.  You get to the point where you have this dream and you’re working hard to try to achieve it, and after so many years, you start to think that it probably won’t happen--it’s just a dream. When the Paracycling opportunity opened, I felt like this could be my chance to go after my dream!” 

I still kind of don’t believe it. It’s really just a surreal experience to have been chosen for Team USA. It is something I had dreamed about and to have become a reality is incredible. 

I am still surprised and thankful for how supportive and encouraging my Smucker family has been on my Team USA journey. It means so much to me to have my peers cheering me on!” 

We often talk about the idea of Smucker Fam, and, like any family, we are proud of one another when we succeed. Congratulations for your incredible accomplishments, Elizabeth. And thank you for inspiring all of us to keep moving toward our dreams.