Canadian speedskater wins first medal at Winter Olympics in Italy
Canada is on the board.
Valerie Maltais captured a bronze medal in the women’s 300m long track speed skating event today at the 2026 Winter Olympics. She finished in three minutes 56.93 seconds. Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy won gold.
The 35-year-old Quebec native is already one of Canada’s most decorated athletes.
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.
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.
In other Olympic news today for Canada, two-time Olympic medal-winning snowboarder Meryeta O’Dine has had to pull out of the Milan Cortina snowboard cross competition due to injury.
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- Valerie Maltais wins Team Canada’s first (bronze) medal in women’s 300m long track speed skating.
- Norovirus at Athletes’ Village
- Two-time Olympic medal-winning snowboarder Meryeta O’Dine has had to pull out of the Milan Cortina snowboard cross competition due to injury