Isabelle Weidemann

Biography

Isabelle Weidemann won three medals during her second Olympic appearance at Beijing 2022. She started with a bronze medal in the 3000m for Canada’s first medal of the Games. She then added a silver medal in the 5000m before capturing team pursuit gold in Olympic record time alongside Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais. Weidemann’s accomplishments resulted in her being selected as Team Canada’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer. 

She had made her Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018 where she finished fourth with the team pursuit and skated to sixth and seventh place finishes in the 5000m and 3000m, respectively. 

Weidemann is a six-time medallist at the ISU World Single Distances Championships, with five of those podiums coming in the team pursuit. In 2023, Weidemann, Blondin, and Maltais became world champions in the event. In 2024, Weidemann earned her first individual world championship medal, taking silver in the 3000m to go with a silver in the team pursuit. In 2025, the trio took bronze in the team pursuit, making it the fifth straight world championships in which they had reached the podium. The streak started with a bronze medal in 2020, followed by a silver medal in 2021. At four world championships (2019, 2021, 2023, 2025), Weidemann has placed fourth in the 5000m.

Weidemann competed in her first full senior World Cup season in 2015-16. She capped it off by debuting at the ISU World Single Distances Championships where she finished fifth in the 5000m, a sign of the success to come. In the fall of 2017, Weidemann won her first World Cup medals, taking a pair of bronzes with the team pursuit.

It was during the 2018-19 season that Weidemann began to stand on major international podiums in her individual events. Her first World Cup medal was a gold that she won in the 3000m in November 2018. She would add a 3000m silver and a 5000m silver to help her finish fourth overall in the World Cup long distance standings. She placed sixth overall at the 2019 World Allround Championships after finishing second in the 5000m and third in the 3000m. 

In 2019-20, Weidemann finished second overall in the World Cup long distance standings after winning two gold medals and one bronze in the 3000m to go with a bronze in the 5000m. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020-21 World Cup season was condensed to just events. Weidemann, Blondin and Maltais won gold in both team pursuit World Cup races. During the fall of 2021, Weidemann, Blondin, and Maltais were unbeatable in the three pre-Olympic World Cup team pursuit races. Weidemann finished second overall in the World Cup long distance standings for a second time in 2022-23.

Weidemann first represented Canada at the 2014 World Junior Championships. During the 2014-15 season she won 3000m bronze at the Junior World Cup Final and finished fourth in the 3000m at her second World Junior Championships, earning her Speed Skating Canada’s 2015 Rising Star of the Year award for long track. She has twice been named Speed Skating Canada’s Long Track Female Athlete of the Year, in 2019 and 2022.

A Little More About Isabelle

Getting into the Sport: Started skating at age 6 and took up speed skating at age 12, following family friends into the sport… As a young skater, thought the 3000m was way too long and wanted to be a sprinter… Competed in many other sports in high school, including rowing, swimming, track and field, soccer, cross-country skiing and running… Hometown hero and four-time Olympic medallist Kristina Groves’ performance at Vancouver 2010 sparked her Olympic dream… Outside Interests: Studied geology and earth science at the University of Calgary… Enjoys trail running with her dog, doing crossword puzzles, binging audiobooks, hiking, swimming, and waterskiing at the family cottage… Odds and Ends: Keeps her event accreditations and writes her race highlights on the back… Brother, Jake, is also a member of the national long track team…