Catharine Pendrel (born September 30, 1980) is a Canadian cross-country mountain biker from Harvey, New Brunswick.

Pendrel was a competitive horse rider in eventing prior to selecting mountain biking as her primary sport.

There she had to convince future coach Dan Proulx into taking her on, as he was quoted "Catharine and I often joke because, no, I didn't see (world champion potential) in her at first.

[4][5] Pendrel was not as notable a rider at the time as her hero, teammate, and gold medal favourite Marie-Hélène Prémont who did not finish after a lingering and unknown illness caused her to retire from the race.

In response she tweeted "Thank you Canada & cycling fans for voting me as people's choice for flag bearer.

After the race a tearful Pendrel said that "I felt so strong yesterday and today just didn't happen.

"[7] Pendrel followed up Olympic disappointment with a great result in her next major multi-sport event the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

There she won the gold medal in the women's mountain bike event while teammate Emily Batty followed her for a Canadian one-two finish on the podium.

At the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto Pendrel and Batty again battled for the top podium spot with the two Canadians taking an early lead on the same course they had raced in 2014 Nationals competition.

[3] In July 2021, Pendrel was named to Canada's 2020 Olympic team, just seven months after giving birth.