Born in Melbourne, Australia on May 17, 1985, Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian speed skater and regarded as her country's best chance bet to win a medal in the sport at the Vancouver Olympics. While Nesbitt won a silver medal in the Olympic Speed Skating Women's Team Pursuit in the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, she only finished seventh in the Olympic Speed Skating Women's 1500m and 14th the 1,000 meters. Since then, however, he developed into one of the world's best skaters over both of those distances. In last year's world championships, she won gold in the 1,000 meters and bronze in the 1,500 meters.

Nesbitt, a heavy favorite entering the event, won the gold medal in the 1,000 meters long track on February 18 in dramatic fashion after stumbling early and trailing for most of the race. Nesbitt's win gave the host country its first speed skating gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics. She also made amends after finishing 14th in the 1,000 meters four years ago in Turin. This time, Nesbitt was 15th after the first 200 meters and ninth after 600 meters. At the finish line, she edged Holland's Annette Gerritsen, the silver medalist, by a scant 0.02 seconds. Nesbitt then placed sixth in the 1,500 meters on February 21 with a time of 1 minute, 58.33 seconds. She then finished fifth in her last event at the Vancouver Games, the team pursuit on February 27.