Speed skating Olympians Weidemann, Maltais, Blondin headline Canada's long track team for Milan Cortina
15-member squad will attempt to improve its 5-medal haul from 2022 in Beijing
Isabelle Weidemann is determined to repeat as Olympic champion with fellow Canadian speed skaters Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais in women’s team pursuit, but the long track veteran isn't simply seeking a medal from the experience in Milan Cortina.
While preparing for her third Winter Olympics, the 30-year-old is mindful of “new faces” dotting Canada’s roster of 15 athletes — eight women, seven men — looking to help the team improve on its five-medal haul four years ago in Beijing.
“I’ve changed a lot as an athlete and as a person these past four years,” Weidemann, from Ottawa, said in a statement released by Speed Skating Canada, which unveiled the Canadian team Thursday alongside the Canadian Olympic Committee. "I’m approaching these Games with a veteran’s mindset.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces with a lot of energy, and I’m really proud to be part of this group.”
Weidemann, who was Canada’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremony at the 2022 Games in China after also earning individual silver and bronze, plans to take on more of a leadership role in Italy next month and “make sure the next generation of athletes feels supported."
Maltais, 35, is gearing up for her fifth Winter Games and second in long track after representing Canada on the short-track squad in 2010 (Vancouver), 2014 (Sochi, Russia) and 2018 (Pyeongchang, South Korea).
The native of La Baie, Que., said she gets “emotional” competing for her country and has many learned lessons on her Olympic journey since Vancouver.
“Representing Canada for the fifth time at the Olympic Games is not something I could have believed possible,” Maltais said. “I still feel excited, possibly more than before my first Games. I want to make the most of this, for myself and with Team Canada.”
Weidemann, Maltais and Blondin will carry plenty of momentum into these Games, having combined for eight individual World Cup medals this season (gold, four silver, three bronze) while reaching the podium three times in team pursuit and coming away with a victory and two silver medals.
Teammate Béatrice Lamarche captured her first World Cup medal at the season-opening event in November, grabbing women’s 1,000-metre bronze in Salt Lake City. In Milan Cortina, the Quebec City athlete will lead a group of Olympic rookies, joined by sprinters Rose Laliberté-Roy and Carolina Hiller-Donnelly, along with distance specialist Laura Hall.
Bloemen, Dubreuil front men's team
The Canadian men will be led by Olympic medallists Ted-Jan Bloemen (10,000m gold in Pyeongchang) and Laurent Dubreuil (2022 silver in the 1,000).
Bloemen, a 39-year-old former world record holder, also collected 5,000m silver in South Korea but was held off the podium in Beijing. This season, the Calgary native is one of two Canadian men to pick up a World Cup medal with 5,000 silver in the Alberta city. Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu took bronze in the mass start at the season opener.
The 33-year-old Dubreuil will arrive in Milan Cortina as one of Canada’s most successful male speed skaters, having earned over 50 medals on the World Cup circuit.
“I still feel on top of [my] game and I still believe in my [medal] chances,” said the Lévis, Que., native, “but beyond the medals I want to offer my best race ever and we’ll see where that leads me.”
Gélinas-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke, Que., returns to the Olympic stage following his 2022 debut while sprinters Cédrick Brunet and Anders Johnson will make their first appearance at the Games with middle-distance skaters David La Rue and Daniel Hall.
La Rue, from Saint-Lambert, Que., secured his Olympic spot in the men’s 1,500 in Quebec City earlier this month at a last-chance qualifier.
“Qualifying in front of my family and friends, people who were really involved in my athletic journey, makes it even more memorable,” said the 27-year-old.
Canada’s team includes five athletes with Olympian parents:
- Siblings Laura and Daniel Hall are following father Mike, who competed in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway.
- Béatrice Lamarche’s father, Benoît, was an Olympian in 1984 (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and 1988 (Calgary).
- Dubreuil is the son of two Olympian parents, Robert (1992, Albertville, France) and mother Ariane Loignon (1988).
- Cédrick Brunet is the son of ice dancer Michel Brunet, who competed at the 1998 Nagano Olympics in Japan.
Canadian long track speed skaters have picked up 42 Olympic medals, the country’s greatest total in any winter sport, since the first Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France.
“[This year’s] athletes combine explosive speed, precise technique and mental toughness, allowing them to dominate every stride on the international long track rink,” said former Olympic moguls skier Jennifer Heil, Canada’s chef de mission for Milan Cortina.
“Soak in every moment, feel the adrenaline and make the most of this Olympic experience."
Canada long track roster
WOMEN
- Ivanie Blondin, Ottawa
- Laura Hall, Salmon Arm, B.C.
- Carolina Hiller-Donnelly, Prince George, B.C.
- Rose Laliberté-Roy, Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Que.
- Béatrice Lamarche, Quebec City
- Valérie Maltais, La Baie, Que.
- Brooklyn McDougall, Calgary
- Isabelle Weidemann, Ottawa
MEN
- Ted-Jan Bloemen, Calgary
- Cédrick Brunet, Gatineau, Que.
- Laurent Dubreuil, Lévis, Que.
- Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (Sherbrooke, Que.)
- Daniel Hall, Salmon Arm, B.C.
- Anders Johnson, Calgary
- David La Rue, Saint-Lambert, Que.
