Luka Stoikos is sliding into the world stage. After competing as a member of the Blues football team from 2021–2024, and on the track and field team in the 2024 season, the Toronto native now looks to bring home gold for Canada in bobsleigh at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Stoikos sat down in an interview with The Varsity to discuss his journey to Milano Cortina, while simultaneously navigating the ups and downs of academics as a student in the Daniels Faculty of Architecture.
Beginnings at U of T
Stoikos began playing football in Grade 10, with his sights set on playing professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). While he didn’t have the most experience — applying to universities with only two seasons under his belt due to the COVID-19 pandemic — he earned a spot as a football recruit at U of T as a running back in the 2021 season.
Stoikos started strong in his rookie season, as he found himself dressing for almost every game, an impressive feat for his first year. His momentum carried into his second year, where he returned 25 kick-offs for 632 yards and two return touchdowns. He led the Blues with an average of 106.3 all-purpose yards per game, and was named an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) second team all-star.
In Stoikos’ third year, the Blues’ performance dipped, and the team was unable to make the playoffs with a 2–6 record. Searching for an outlet to optimize his football performance, he began training with the Blues track and field team.
“[I] didn’t have the season I wanted, especially coming off that high from being an OUA all-star the previous year,” Stoikos explained. “I [wanted] to train harder… sometimes we get caught up in [not running in the postseason], and I wanted to do some training to keep running all year-round.”
Stoikos reached out to track and field Head Coach Carl Georgevski and began training several times a week. He ended up making the OUA standard at the tryout meet, and, with the green light from his football coaches, began competing as a thrower and sprinter. That season, he represented the Blues at the OUA Provincial Championships, where he placed fifth in weight throw and eighth in shot put.
He notes that his experience in a range of sports has contributed to his success in his other endeavours. “My knowledge from track helped me prepare for the CFL Combine in 2025, which was pretty exciting.”
Road to the CFL
Simultaneously, Stoikos continued to perform well as a member of the Varsity Blues’ football team. He was selected to compete in the East-West Bowl in 2024, which is a Canadian University Football showcase for top prospects in U SPORTS.
Following his fourth season, Stoikos was invited to the CFL combine, getting a step closer to his longtime goal. “I tested quite well in several of the events, [but] had an average day in the football skills… There was a bit of uncertainty following the combine.”
Hoping to further demonstrate his potential as a football player, he attended RBC Training Ground, a program dedicated to “finding young athletes with Olympic potential.” It was there that he first caught the attention of Bobsleigh Canada, who were recruiting potential athletes for their program. “While still unsure if I was going to get drafted, I ended up getting connected with [Bobsleigh Canada], and they were very interested in having me out for a camp.”
Yet, with his sights set on making the CFL, Stoikos decided to put his eggs in one basket to chase his professional football dream. It paid off on April 29, 2025, when he was drafted 67th overall by the BC Lions, becoming the first Varsity Blue to be drafted by the CFL since 2019. However, at training camp prior to the team’s second preseason game on May 29, Stoikos was cut from the team, with the Lions citing a misalignment in the team’s needs with regard to roster positions and Canadian player quotas.
A change of plans
With his CFL dream on hold, Stoikos reconsidered his chance with Bobsleigh Canada. “I was obviously disappointed, but I [also knew that I had an] opportunity with bobsleigh. It happened to be an Olympic year… [I thought], ‘I’ll just go all in for the next six months and see what [I] can do.’ ”
That same night, Stoikos reached out to Ryan Sommer, a bronze medalist in bobsleigh at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, to inform the team he was on board.
He was invited to his first pushing camp at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary in June 2025, where he touched a bobsled for the first time. There, he impressed the coaches and received an invitation to join the program full-time, leading up to the start of the bobsleigh season in November 2025. Stoikos then relocated to Calgary and continued to prove himself as an Olympic-calibre contender.
His big test, however, was competing in his first full run at the Whistler Sliding Centre, which is widely considered the world’s fastest bobsleigh track. There, he would have a chance to make it to Canada’s World Cup Team in the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), where he could compete in a series of seven meets against the best athletes in the world and maximize the number of points awarded to qualify for the Olympics.
Stoikos performed well at Whistler and achieved his goal of making it to the World Cup Team. “Being named to the World Cup Team meant that I was competing [against] the best of the best across Europe… I continued to work hard, prove myself, and show that [I can push].” What followed was a heavy training and competition schedule throughout Europe, with a day of travel every Monday followed by training every other day and races in each discipline on Saturday and Sunday.
Yet, the question of whether he had made the Olympic roster was left unanswered. Canada had qualified two men’s sleds for the games, but aside from the pilots who steer at the front of the sled, the rest of the brakemen positions remained unfilled and up to the discretion of the selection committee.
Getting the call
Following his last race of the World Cup season in January in Altenberg, Germany, Stoikos was notified by his coaches that he had made the Olympic roster for the four-man bobsleigh. He will be sliding with pilot Jay Dearborn, who won a gold medal at the North American Cup on November 21, in the two-man competition. While he has only slid with Dearborn in the preseason, Stoikos has pushed with the same group of brakemen in the four-man, consisting of Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson and Mark Zanette, since the start of his bobsleigh career and is looking forward to racing alongside them at the games.
Stoikos emphasizes the importance of working as a team to succeed, as the smallest differences can make a large impact, with races coming down to the smallest fractions of a second. “Anything you do [could make a difference]… maybe [someone’s] timing is off when he hits the sled, because we all have to hit it in unison as a crew to get it moving… or someone takes slightly too long to load into the sled, that [could be] a hundredth right there.”
“The cool thing about this work is [that you are] chasing perfection in a sense, to ultimately get the best possible time you can.”
Becoming an Olympian
Stoikos now reaps the rewards of his hard work. Being an Olympian presents “an opportunity to represent [his] country and [show the whole world] what [he] can do.” Moreover, he traces his sense of accomplishment back to his family roots.
“My grandparents immigrated to Canada and it was hard for them, but they made it work and they’re grateful [for everything they have] been able to accomplish while living in Canada… to be able to show my grandparents [that] my last name is out there [and] I’m going to be an Olympian for Canada, our country, is quite an exciting feeling… It’s not something I take lightly.”
Stoikos also credits the support he has received in getting to where he is today, including his teammates and coaches from U of T. “[The community was] instrumental to being able to make the switch to bobsled.” However, he also brings attention to the barriers that many Canadian athletes face in achieving their full potential.
Notably, he says that the financial aspect of competition can prevent athletes from getting to the international stage. “The costs associated with bobsled are something that a lot of people don’t realize, [especially being] a national-level athlete… our yearly budget is just not enough to cover the actual fees and expenses.”
He notes that a lot of sacrifice has gone into his journey, noting that the Olympics would not have been possible without financial support from his community. “That was the only reason I was able to compete this season… It’s a really nice feeling that [everything has] paid off.”
Looking ahead
While Stoikos is no stranger to athletic accomplishment — evident in his long resume of achievements on both the football field and on the track — his path to the Olympics is anything but conventional. Having only pushed a bobsled for the first time roughly six months before his Olympic debut, Stoikos’ achievement in being named to the Olympic roster is indicative of his strong work ethic and discipline over the long run. Stoikos hopes to close out his season on a high note. “I’m really excited to put everything I’ve got into one last race for this season, and that race happens to be the Olympics.”
As a current student, Stoikos has managed coursework throughout his training with plans to finish the winter semester after the conclusion of the Games. He is set to compete on February 21 and 22, and can be watched on CBC.
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