Florence Brunelle is choosing short track speed skating every day
Perhaps one of the benefits of success at an early age is a longer opportunity for your perspective to grow and mature alongside your sporting career. That was certainly the case for Team Canada short track speed skater Florence Brunelle.
“Before my first Olympic Games, I was skating because I was a skater, and now I’m skating because I love skating, and I choose to do it every day.”
Brunelle first got inspired when she watched the short track competition from PyeongChang 2018 as a 14-year-old.
“I was like, ‘I want to be there someday,’” Brunelle said.
She didn’t have to wait very long. Just four years later, at the age of 18, she took to the ice as a member of Team Canada at the very next Olympic Winter Games—Beijing 2022.
On her way there, Brunelle racked up two bronze medals at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games followed by a pair of silver medals at the 2020 ISU World Junior Championships. She debuted at the senior ISU World Championships in 2021.
At Beijing 2022, Brunelle finished 19th in the 500m and just missed the podium with the women’s 3000m relay that finished fourth. In the final of the mixed relay, Brunelle collided with another competitor and the team was penalized, costing them a medal. It was not the result she had dreamed of, and the aftermath of the Games was a difficult period for the young athlete.
“I had to step back to make sure this is what I wanted to do in life. It was one of the hardest parts of my life,” Brunelle said. “But now I’m super grateful to have been there because it has taught me so much, and the person I am today is because I took the time at that point to self-reflect, and choose who I wanted to be, and who I wanted to become.”
In particular, over the last two years, Brunelle feels like she has matured as an athlete from a mental perspective, including honing how she personally defines success.
“I think success became something in the last two years that it wasn’t before,” Brunelle said. “For me, success is being able to value myself based on what I do every single day. It’s all about the process.”
And this renewed perspective has clearly been working for Brunelle. Last season she earned her first individual ISU Short Track World Tour (previously World Cup) victory, winning the 500m in Tilburg, Netherlands.
It’s also been helping her as a key member of relay squads for Team Canada. At the 2025 ISU World Championships, Brunelle helped Canada claim world titles in both the women’s 3000m relay (alongside teammates Courtney Sarault, Rikki Doak, and Kim Boutin) and the mixed team 2000m relay (alongside Boutin, William Dandjinou, and Steven Dubois).
“The last few years, individually, we’ve all been really successful. But to be able to come together and make our team the best team in the world has been something we wanted to achieve,” said Brunelle.
“It was just very cool to see how that developed through the year and seeing everyone be vulnerable, and willing, and open, to make it happen.”
For Brunelle, one of the biggest takeaways is that when it comes to being a team, differences are a strength, not a weakness.
“At one point, I thought we needed everyone to be on the same page to be successful. But at one point we understood that everyone can be different, and we need everyone to be different in their ways to be able to get the best out of everyone.”
READ: Courtney Sarault discovers new mental strength after two years of challenges
One year out from the Olympic Games was a good time for a team to be clicking.
“It was kind of like, ‘Okay, we’re able to do that! Let’s try and do it next year!’” Brunelle said.
She has faced some bumps in the road over the summer, dealing with a hernia in her lower back that has impeded her training. Brunelle finished fifth overall at the Canadian Short Track Championships in late August, and was open that she was disappointed in the performance. In 2024, she had taken the title of national champion.
Her performance was strong enough for selection to Team Canada’s squad for the ISU Short Track World Tour, which will kick off on home ice in Montreal over back-to-back weekends October 9-12 and 16-19. Results from the four World Tour stops will determine how many quota spots Canada will have for short track at Milano Cortina 2026, as well as which athletes will fill them.
Brunelle is embracing the challenges that may come along the way towards her second Olympic Games.
“Every little thing I’ve overcome has taught me so much,” Brunelle said. “Skating is a choice that I make every single day because this is what makes me happy and this is what I want to do. It has helped me keep my happiness and my joy in my own hands.”
You can purchase tickets to watch in-person or tune in on CBC to watch Brunelle and the rest of Team Canada compete in Montreal.
