Cindy Klassen, OM (born August 12, 1979) is a Canadian retired long track speed skater.

[2] She also holds the Canadian records over 1500 m and 5000 m.[3][4] Klassen is the leader of the Adelskalender, which is the all-time world ranking for speed skating.

[3] Klassen won the 2005 and 2006 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as female athlete of the year as presented by the Canadian Press.

[6] Klassen started her sports career as an ice hockey player at Gateway Community Club in Winnipeg and played for the Canadian national youth team.

She fell during training, collided with another skater, hit his skate, and as a result twelve tendons in her right arm were cut.

In 2006, she announced she would not carry the Canadian flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, although she had not yet been asked.

With this achievement, she tied American Eric Heiden's record of five medals won by a speed skater at an Olympics (1980).

Her winning the largest number of medals at the Turin Olympics caused IOC president Jacques Rogge to call her the "woman of the games".

[9] The following day, February 27, Klassen signed the most lucrative endorsement deal ever for a Canadian amateur athlete, with Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS), estimated at $1 million.

On December 11, she was named as the winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year, beating out the likes of Joe Thornton, Justin Morneau, Steve Nash and teammate Clara Hughes.

[1] In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Klassen decided not to participate in the fall races for the Speed Skating World Cup.

[15] Coming back from double knee-surgery and two years off from skating, Klassen's main goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was simply to compete.

[17] While Klassen stated that she was unsure of whether she would continue speed skating after the Games, she believed that her knees would hold out and that the 2014 Sochi Olympics were a possibility.

[20] That same season she had also helped to pull the women to the top of the World Cup title, winning three of four races that year together with Brittany Schussler and Christine Nesbitt.

Klassen issued a retirement interview stating "It's been an incredible honour to represent Canada in speed skating for 15 years.