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Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 Speed Skating Recap
- 20 hours ago
- 6 min read
The 2026 Olympic Winter Games delivered more than extraordinary performances — they offered moments of profound human triumph, quiet resilience, authentic vulnerability and electrifying achievement that united us all.
Through unprecedented access to social media and hundreds of hours of video coverage, we were invited beyond the podium. We not only witnessed the record-breaking performances and hard-fought victories, we also heard the stories of the years of sacrifice, discipline, and unwavering belief that carried these athletes to the world stage. Athlete stories of early mornings in frozen arenas, disciplined years of training, and mental wellbeing challenges and triumphs reminded us that greatness is forged long before the spotlight finds it.
In seeing the Games unfold through this lens, we are reminded of a powerful truth: future Olympians begin everywhere — in cities and towns, in local clubs and community arenas, and at competitions close to home. This realization ignites our belief that the next generation of champions is not a distant dream; they are training today, racing across our Ontario circuits, and building their stories one determined stride at a time.
As we reflect on the remarkable achievements of the Olympic athletes from across Canada, we celebrate not only their medals, but also their courage, perseverance, and the inspiration they ignite in all of us. As we look ahead to the future, the legacy of the 2026 Games lives on — in our communities, in our young athletes, in the work of our coaches and officials, and in the enduring belief that extraordinary things are possible here in Ontario and beyond.
Join us in reflecting on the outstanding achievements of all Team Canada speed skaters at Milano Cortina 2026.
🥇 Olympic Champions
Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais, and Isabelle Weidemann delivered an inspirational performance to win Gold in the Women’s Team Pursuit, successfully defending their Olympic title from Beijing 2022. Their years of friendship and harmonized training truly shone on the ice, making them the only team to win the Women’s Team Pursuit in back to back Olympics with the same three members. Congratulations Ivanie, Isabelle and Valérie! We are so proud of your accomplishments!
📷Greg Kolz
Steven Dubois battled back from a challenging start to the Games in the 1000m, to win Gold in the Men’s short track 500m. This was Canada’s only individual Gold medal in speed skating and also marked the first time Steven stood atop the Olympic podium in an individual event. Steven was named as one of Canada’s closing ceremonies flag bearers.
🥈 Silver Medalists
The Canadian Mixed Relay team won silver early in the Games, which sparked interest in short track across the country and showed that Canada is a top contender, and should never be counted out. The Canadians found themselves in fourth position early in the race, only to battle back with a push pass by Courtney Sarault and Kim Boutin and quick agility by Félix Roussel to capitalize on a slip by the Chinese team. The Canadians finished second behind the home town Italian team to claim Silver. The Belgian team, who spend a great deal of time training in Montréal with the Canadians, skated to Bronze.
Ivanie Blondin showed her veteran discipline and patience in the Women’s Mass Start to claim Silver with a strong final sprint to the finish. This marks Ivanie’s second career Olympic medal in the Women’s Mass Start, matching the silver she won in Beijing 2022. Ivanie is always happy to connect with Ontario athletes when they visit the Oval in Calgary. She has attended our Ontario social events at Summit Performance Camp and she shares her story with vulnerability and sincerity when she joins the camps for her National Team presentation.
📷Greg Kolz
Courtney Sarault won Silver in the Women’s 1000m short track event. Courtney spent some of her childhood growing up and racing in Ontario, and many of our athletes have competed alongside her in Ontario and at National Competitions. Courtney now skates for New Brunswick, and is the first Canadian outside of Québec to win an individual Olympic medal in short track.
🥉 Bronze Medalists
Valérie Maltais won Bronze in the Women’s 3000m and added another Bronze in the Women’s 1500m long track - her first international 1500m medal. Her 3000m Bronze was Canada’s first medal of the 2026 Games, setting the stage for many amazing performances to come. The last time a Canadian reached the 1500m podium was 20 years ago in Torino 2006.
Val was a guest coach and presenter at the 2023 Nagano Skate Camp in Waterloo, with her husband, Ontario speed skater and Olympian Jordan Belchos. Val’s dedication to her training was evident even on her “rest” days, when she was constantly doing imitations and stretches in the halls at camp. Val was named as a closing ceremonies flag-bearer for Canada.
The Women’s 3000m Relay Team, consisting of Courtney Sarault, Danaé Blais, Kim Boutin and Florence Brunelle, won Bronze, marking Canada’s first Olympic medal in the event since Sochi 2014.
As a young skater, Florence often joined us in Ontario for training camps, making many friendships here, and she was welcomed as a guest speaker and coach at the Ontario Girls Camp in Belleville in 2022 and in Milton in 2023.
Courtney Sarault won Bronze in the Women’s 500m short track with a strong push in the final lap and an efficient shoot of her blade at the finish line. Courtney’s strong performance at these Games made her only the second Canadian to ever win at least 4 medals at a single Winter Olympics.
Laurent Dubreuil had an incredibly fast start in pair ten of the Men’s 500m long track event, and took the lead with five pairs remaining. Laurent’s fast time was tested in the remaining pairs, but in the end, his time held on to earn him the Bronze medal, marking Canada’s first Olympic medal in that event since 1998, after just missing the 500m podium in Beijing 2022 by three tenths of a second. Laurent is known to connect with the Ontario long track skaters when they cross paths at the Centre de Glaces at training camps, sometimes even sharing the ice for a couple laps!
📷Greg Kolz
Other Notable Results from Ontario Speed Skaters
Isabelle Weidemann skated with strength and consistency, finishing 5th in both the 3000m and the 5000m in a very competitive field of racers. Isabelle was a guest presenter at the Ontario Girls Camp in Belleville in 2022 and often sends inspiring messages to Ontario athletes, particularly when our long track athletes visit Calgary for camps and competitions. This year at the 2026 Ontario Long Track Provincial Championships, the skaters were all invited to sign a poster made to cheer on Isabelle at the Games, which was showcased on interviews with Isabelle’s family while in Milano.
Ivanie Blondin showed her strength in the middle distance event as well, finishing 8th in the 1500m long track.
📷Greg Kolz
SSO Members in Supporting Roles at the Games
While we were inspired by exceptional performances by all the Canadian speed skaters in Milano Cortina, we also saw many familiar faces from SSO members and alumni as participants of the Games in other ways:
Rocky Lamontagne from Ottawa was the Chief Starter for the men’s short track racing.
Anastasia Bucsis, member of the SSO Board of Directors, was a broadcaster on CBC’s Olympic Prime Time and a commentator for long track.
Alexandra Ianculescu, Toronto Speed Skating alumnus, was the in-house announcer for the long track venue.
Richard Shoebridge, Cambridge Speed Skating alumnus, was the Coach of Team Great Britain short track.
Jackie Fackoury and alumnus Valya Roberts from Cambridge were Games volunteers at the long track venue.
Olympic Activities at home in Ontario
Speed Skating Ontario in partnership with the Gloucester Concordes Speed Skating Club hosted Olympic Watch Parties at École secondaire catholique Garneau and Colonel By Secondary School, celebrating Ottawa-born alumni Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin competing on the world’s biggest stage at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games.
These events brought together students, staff, and members of the school community to cheer on Canadian speed skating athletes with strong local roots as alumni of the respected schools.
Here are some news articles that came from the events.
Ottawa Sports Pages
Radio Canada
Le Droit
Gatineau Ottawa TVA
The Kitchener Waterloo Sertoma Speed Skating and Sudbury Sprinters Speed Skating Club also hosted watch parties to bring the community together to rally behind the great Canadian speed skating athletes.
Canadian Olympic Committee FanFest
Speed Skating Ontario was part of the Canadian Olympic Committee FanFest that took place at Nathan Phillips Square on Feb 7-8, 2026.
This free event allowed members of the community to try speed skating and learn more about the sport. Handouts and conversations helped the participants learn how they can participate in speed skating in Ontario.
Other Speed Skating Ontario Connections
Three-time Olympic Champion, Jens van t'Wout and two-time Olympic medalist, Melle van t'Wout are brothers who grew up in Bracebridge, Ontario, and first tried speed skates with the Barrie Speed Skating Club. They skated in Ontario for a short time before moving back to the Netherlands.
Chris Homestead, alumnus of the Milton Speed Skating Club, was a member of the Men's Bobsled Team in Milano Cortina.
The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 connected us in so many ways, and left us inspired for the next generation of speed skating athletes, coaches and officials here in Ontario.