55 more Olympic and Paralympic dreams fuelled by Petro-Canada’s FACE Program in 2026

The journey to become an Olympian or Paralympian is not a short one. It often takes many years of dedication to a sport, by both athlete and coach.

One program that helps Canadian Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls at a pivotal stage in that journey is Petro-Canada’s Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence (FACE^TM) Program. It’s intended for athletes who are showing potential as a future member of Team Canada but don’t yet qualify for government funding.

Since 1988, Petro-Canada’s FACE Program has provided over $15 million in support of more than 3,500 athletes and coaches. Each year, National Sport Organizations nominate athlete-and-coach pairings, with 55 selected to receive a $10,000 FACE grant which is split evenly between the athlete and coach.

Press Release: 55 Athlete-Coach Pairings Receive Petro-Canada FACE Program Grants in 2026

Here’s a look at some of the stories behind the FACE Class of 2026 and some names you might want to remember.

Oscar Baudrand and Olivier Dorion-Theriault (climbing)

Oscar Baudrand was just 18 years old when he was a member of Team Canada at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. He finished fifth in the combined boulder & lead event, beating his older brother Victor. Now, the younger Baudrand has his eyes on making his Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, where his preferred discipline of bouldering will be a standalone event.

The brothers were introduced to climbing by their parents, who were recreational rock climbers. Oscar has been competing internationally since 2019, when he placed fourth in lead and fifth in boulder at the World Climbing Youth Championships. He made his senior world championship debut in 2023. A year later, he finished fifth in both the boulder and lead events at the 2024 Pan American Championships.

The FACE grant is immensely appreciated because, like all members of Canada’s national climbing team, Baudrand is currently self-funded. Despite that, he achieved a big breakthrough in May 2026 at the World Climbing Series stop in Madrid. He placed third in the qualification round before finishing seventh overall in boulder—a career-best result.

Lia Cho and Scott Davis (figure skating)

Lia Cho has been on the radar of the figure skating community for several years—despite not being old enough to compete in junior international events until the 2026-27 season! Cho won back-to-back junior national titles in 2025 and 2026 when she was just 12 and 13 years old. Her winning score in 2026 was just 0.4 shy of the 200-point mark, a barrier broken by only one senior-level woman at those same Canadian championships. It was a score that would have won Cho bronze at the 2026 ISU Junior World Championships. In late February, she won gold in the advanced novice division of a competition in Poland, setting an unofficial world record with her score.

In early September, Cho won bronze in her debut on the ISU Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix series, achieving new international personal best scores. She was the first Canadian woman to win a Junior Grand Prix medal in five years.  

Cho’s technical content is already consistent with what most of the world’s top women are performing. But she is working on adding even more difficulty, training the triple axel and a couple of quadruple jumps under the guidance of coach Scott Davis in Calgary.

The FACE grant will help Cho develop further by allowing her to travel and work more closely with Olympic medallist and world champion Jeffrey Buttle, one of the world’s most acclaimed figure skating choreographers, as she aims to become more well-rounded performer. 

Steven Kahnert and Logan Dobson (freestyle skiing)

Halfpipe skier Steven Kahnert has been described as a “diesel engine” because of his strength and consistency. He grew up skiing in Vancouver and Whistler, competing in multiple freestyle disciplines. That includes competing for Team Canada at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games where he entered the big air, slopestyle, and halfpipe events. His best result came in halfpipe, in which he finished eighth, so it’s no surprise that is the discipline in which he would specialize and became a member of the Canadian NextGen team in 2021. He made his FIS World Cup debut in December 2021.

Kahnert had the strongest season of his career in 2025-26. He cracked the top 20 in two World Cup events and he finished fifth in a NorAm Cup Premium event in March in Aspen.

The FACE grant will be a huge help as Kahnert continues his development as a competitive halfpipe skier. That can be a costly venture; because halfpipes are scarce in Canada, a lot of his training must take place internationally, especially during the summer in preparation for the coming season.

Jayden King and Morgan Lavell (curling)

Jayden King made history in 2026 when he became the first Black skip to ever compete at the Brier, Canada’s national men’s curling championship. At just 23 years old, he had skipped his team from Tillsonburg to victory at the Ontario Championships, which made him one of the youngest skips at the Brier. Showing the strong tactical decision-making that made him one of Canada’s top up-and-coming skips, King led his team into the championship round of the Brier. They finished the season at No. 7 in the Canadian Team Ranking System. 

King began curling at about 10 years old after watching the sport on TV at a neighbour’s house. In 2023, he won the Ontario Junior Championship. Having earned an undergrad degree in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph, King is now in his second year of studies in the Master of Science Physiotherapy Program at McMaster University.

As a self-funded athlete, the FACE grant will help him travel to bonspiels and acquire technology to improve his training. It will also allow coach Morgan Lavell, who has been working with him on a volunteer basis for many years, to travel to more competitions.

Sara Parker and Rachel Lessard (flag football)

Sara Parker helped make Canadian history this summer as the quarterback of the women’s flag football team that secured its spot in the first ever Olympic Games for the sport. Not only did the team qualify for LA 2028, they also became world champions—a first for Canada in women’s flag football since 2014. Parker was named the MVP of the tournament.

READ: Canadian women’s flag football team are world champions, qualify for LA 2028

Parker has been playing flag football since she was 13. She spearheaded the creation of women’s flag football programs at her CEGEP and at Concordia University. She became the starting quarterback of the national team in 2024. The following year, Rachel Lessard was hired as the head coach and both women were key to Canada winning the bronze medal at the 2025 World Games where Parker was statistically the top quarterback in the tournament.

Parker’s leadership, composure under pressure, and quick, sound decision-making make her a strong commander of the team’s offense. And at just 26 years old, she is still developing. The FACE grant will help her work with an expert quarterback coach to acquire advanced QB skills through targeted one-on-one coaching, while it will allow Lessard to attend a professional football training camp to continue her development as the leader on the sidelines. 

Nikita Théodat and Quentin Midrouillet (artistic gymnastics)

Nikita Théodat is one of Canada’s top up-and-coming artistic gymnasts, lauded for her consistency, determination, strong work ethic, and positive attitude even in high-pressure situations.

Théodat’s ability to perform high-difficulty elements with power, amplitude, clean lines, and control have already landed her on international podiums before her 15^th birthday. She started 2026 by winning junior all-around gold at Elite Canada. At her first major international meet, DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Germany, she led Canada to a team bronze medal and reached the podium in vault and floor exercise in the junior division. 

After becoming the Canadian junior all-around champion, she competed at the 2026 Pan American Championships where she won gold on floor exercise and just missed the podium in the all-around and vault, placing fourth in both. It’s all been part of a clear and consistent progression, which demonstrates a sustainable development trajectory as she works towards senior-level requirements.

The FACE grant will directly support that development, helping Théodat with competition expenses, specialized training opportunities with expert coaches, and medical/recovery needs.

Petro-Canada’s FACE Class of 2026