Willy Kanis

Willy Kanis, born on 27 July 1984 in Kampen, is a Dutch cyclist who raced BMX in the summer and track sprint events in the winter, and who later tried a third sport, bobsleigh. On the BMX side she was the first holder of the women's European indoor title, won at Zwolle in February 2006, became world champion in Brazil in the summer of 2006 and took the Dutch national BMX title at Haaksbergen in July 2007. On the track she won the team sprint with Yvonne Hijgenaar at the World Cup round in Manchester in February 2006, won the Dutch sprint, 500 metre time trial and keirin titles in 2006, and collected a world championship silver medal in 2007. She took silver in the sprint and bronze in the keirin at the 2009 world championships and finished fourth in the sprint at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. For the 2012 to 2013 season she moved to bobsleigh as brakewoman for pilot Esmé Kamphuis and started three World Cup races.