Valérie Maltais

Biography

Valérie Maltais accomplished a rare feat at Beijing 2022, becoming just the third athlete in the world (and the first Canadian) to win Olympic medals in both forms of speed skating. She joined that small club by winning gold in long track speed skating’s team pursuit alongside Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. The trio set an Olympic record time in the final.

Maltais had made her Olympic debut as a short track speed skater at Vancouver 2010 in just her second season of senior international competition. She finished 14th in her only event, the 1500m. Four years later she competed in all four short track events at Sochi 2014 and won a silver medal as part of the 3000m relay team. Maltais made her third Olympic appearance at PyeongChang 2018. A few months later, she announced she had decided to switch her focus to long track speed skating.

After just two months on clap skates, Maltais entered her first long track races. Within six months of making the switch, she was competing in her first long track World Cups in the fall of 2018. She made her debut at the ISU World Allround Championships and ISU World Single Distances Championships in 2019.

In 2019-20, she became an integral member of Canada’s women’s team pursuit, joining forces with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. The trio won three World Cup medals, including a gold in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in December. They went on to win bronze at the World Single Distances Championships. Maltais posted a sixth-place finish in the mass start as she played a key support role for Blondin who captured the gold medal.

The 2020-21 season was cut to just two World Cups and the World Single Distances Championships because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Maltais, Blondin and Weidemann won team pursuit gold at both World Cups before claiming silver at the world championships.

In October 2021, Maltais won her first national title in long track as she set a personal best in the 1000m. On the World Cup circuit in the fall of 2021, Maltais won three team pursuit gold medals with Blondin and Weidemann.

Maltais posted her career-best individual result at the World Single Distances Championships in 2023 when she placed fifth in the 3000m. She earned her first individual World Cup medal in February 2023 when she won silver in the mass start. She earned her first World Cup medal in a traditional distance when she won 3000m bronze in January 2024. Maltais claimed the overall World Cup title in the mass start for the 2023-24 season.

Maltais has represented Canada at three ISU Four Continents Championships, winning back-to-back 3000m and team pursuit titles in 2023 and 2024. She added mass start gold in 2023. Maltais was named Speed Skating Canada’s Female Long Track Athlete of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

During her short track career, Maltais competed at the 2006, 2007 and 2009 World Junior Championships, winning 500m bronze and relay silver in 2009. Maltais was a part of ten straight world championship teams from 2009 to 2018. She has seven medals as part of the 3000m relay team. In 2012 she stepped on the world championship podium by herself for the first time, taking bronze in the 1000m and finishing second in the overall rankings. It was an unexpected result that she credits to racing without fear. That led to her being named the 2012 Speed Skating Canada Female Athlete of the Year for short track. She won that award again in 2014 after winning another 1000m bronze at the world championships and finishing third in the overall classification.

Maltais’ first career individual World Cup victory came in 2012-13 when she won the 1000m in Montreal. In 2015-16 she finished second in the overall World Cup 1000m standings on the strength of three podium finishes. Maltais didn’t have a great start to her 2016-17 season, suffering tendonitis in her abductor as well as a hip problem that left her unable to fully train from the summer to December. She was still able to win four World Cup relay medals and finish on the podium twice individually in Dresden in February.

Maltais was also part of Team Canada at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, competing in inline skating. She had always enjoyed it as a hobby, but in 2014 she decided to pursue it competitively and won the Canadian title. She went on to dominate the 2015 Canadian trials, winning all six events. She finished seventh in both the 500m and 10,000m points race at the Pan Am Games.

A Little More About Valérie

Getting into the Sport: Started speed skating in 1996 at the local rink in Saguenay… Had been figure skating for two years but her mother noticed short track at the Olympic Winter Games and put her in that because it was more competitive… As a figure skater she had always wanted to race her coach… Feels that there are no limits in long track speed skating and is hooked on the constant pursuit to become better… Outside Interests: Enjoys hunting in consignment stores, watching TV shows and movies, cooking and discovering new food, yoga, playing board games, gardening, travelling… Certificates in Psychology and Communications and Human Resources at Laval University… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: Everything happens for a reason… Won four medals, including one gold, with Team Quebec in short track at the 2007 Canada Winter Games…