Team Canada’s Olympic long track speed skating team ready to race at Milano Cortina 2026

A team of 15 long track speed skaters—eight women and seven men—will look to add to Canada’s impressive Olympic legacy in the sport at Milano Cortina 2026.

Leading the way is the trio that won Olympic gold in the women’s team pursuit at Beijing 2022: Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais, and Isabelle Weidemann. They finished atop the ISU World Cup standings this season, winning the final team pursuit race of the Olympic qualification period after finishing second in two earlier events. 

Team Canada Roster: See all the athletes nominated for Milano Cortina 2026

All three have also qualified in multiple individual events, based primarily on their World Cup results this season. Blondin will race in the mass start and 1500m. Maltais will join her on the start line in both the mass start and 1500m and will also race in the 3000m. Weidemann will race in the 3000m and 5000m, the events in which she won bronze and silver, respectively, at Beijing 2022. 

Blondin won silver in the mass start at Beijing 2022 and is an eight-time world championship medallist in the event. This season she won her first World Cup medal in the 1500m in nearly five years. 

Maltais stood on a couple World Cup podiums this season, winning a mass start silver and a 3000m bronze. Weidemann earned two silver medals this season, one in 3000m and one in 5000m.  

“I am super excited for these Games and of the team that we are taking. We’ve got a lot of new faces, with a lot of young energy, and I’m really proud to be a part of this group,” said Weidemann, who was selected as Team Canada’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer at Beijing 2022. “I’ve changed a lot as an athlete and as a person these past four years. I went to the last Games with the mindset to perform, and that was the only thing I was looking to do. I still have those goals and absolutely want to perform and represent Canada the best I can in Milan, but I’m approaching these Games with a veteran’s mindset. I want to take on more of a mentorship role and make sure the next generation of athletes coming up feels supported.”

Among the newcomers on the women’s team is sprinter Béatrice Lamarche, who will compete in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m. She’s set to become a second generation Olympian, following her father Benoît, who competed in speed skating at Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988. She started the season by winning her first World Cup medal, earning bronze in the 1000m in Salt Lake City.  

The women’s sprint squad also includes Brooklyn McDougall, who will race in the 500m for a second straight Olympic Games, as well as Olympic rookies Carolina Hiller-Donnelly (qualified in the 500m and 1000m), and Rose Laliberté-Roy (qualified in the 1000m). 

Rounding out the women’s long distance team is Laura Hall, who will compete in the 3000m and 5000m. She’ll have family in the Olympic village, as her brother Daniel Hall qualified for the men’s 1500m and mass start. They are following in the footsteps of father Mike, who represented Canada in speed skating at Lillehammer 1994. 

The veteran of the men’s team is Ted-Jan Bloemen, who will race in the 5000m and 10,000m for the third straight Games. Now 39 years old, he won gold in the 10,000m and silver in the 5000m at PyeongChang 2018. He has won four world championship medals in the 10,000m, most recently silver in 2024. This season he won a World Cup bronze medal in the 5000m.  

Laurent Dubreuil is also a returning Olympic medallist, having won 1000m silver at Beijing 2022 after finishing fourth in the 500m in which he missed the podium by 0.03. He’ll suit up in both events again in Milan. Also racing in both of those sprints will be Anders Johnson, who made his world championship debut last year. Cédrick Brunet will join them in the 500m. He will also become a second generation Olympian after his father Michel competed in ice dance at Nagano 1998.  

Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu will compete in the men’s mass start for a second straight Games. He won silver in that event at the 2024 ISU World Single Distances Championships. He then took a season away from competition, but in his return to the World Cup circuit this fall, won bronze at the season opener in Salt Lake City. Completing the team is David La Rue, who will race in the men’s 1500m. 

Canada has won 42 Olympic medals in long track speed skating, the country’s biggest total in any winter sport. Long track speed skating will take place February 7-21 at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium in Milan. 

Team Canada Long Track Speed Skaters at Milano Cortina 2026: 

Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.)
Laura Hall (Salmon Arm, B.C.)
Carolina Hillier-Donnelly (Prince George, B.C.)
Rose Laliberté-Roy (Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Que.)
Béatrice Lamarche (Quebec City, Que.)
Valerie Maltais (La Baie, Que.)
Brooklyn McDougall (Calgary, Alta.)
Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.)

Ted-Jan Bloemen (Calgary, Alta.)
Cédrick Brunet (Gatineau, Que.)
Laurent Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.)
Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (Sherbrooke, Que.)
Daniel Hall (Salmon Arm, B.C.)
Anders Johnson (Calgary, Alta.)
David La Rue (Saint-Lambert, Que.)