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Student athletes chase Olympic dreams

University students from across the country are skating, skiing and sliding their way into the history books at the 2026 Winter Games.

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Sonia Mendes and Madeleine Gordon

February 11, 2026

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Graphic by: Edward Thomas Swan
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Among the 207 Canadians competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics are a busy group of student athletes, balancing homework with the fight for Olympic glory.

Scroll down for individual athlete profiles or read on for upcoming events and recent results.

Université Laval student Valérie Maltais earned three medals in the Games. Ms. Maltais was the first Canadian student to win a medal at Milano Cortina and is the most decorated student of the 2026 Games. She earned her first medal, a bronze, in the 3000m speed skating event on Feb. 7. Her second and shiniest, a gold, came in the team pursuit, while her final medal and second bronze was in the 1500m speed skate. Fellow U Laval student Béatrice Lamarche was also on the gold-winning team.

Short track speed skater Félix Roussel, a student at Université TELUQ, won silver in the team event on Feb. 10. His team finished fourth in the 5000 m relay on Friday Feb. 20, narrowly missing the podium.

After a close final game, Canada’s women’s hockey team lost 2-1 to the United States in overtime on Feb. 19. The match marks the end to University of Guelph’s Blayre Turnbull’s third Olympics, where she is taking home a silver medal – her second silver and third overall medal, including a gold from the 2022 Beijing Games.

Other student athletes won medals for Team Canada. Danaé Blais of Université du Québec à Montréal earned bronze alongside teammates Florence Brunelle, Kim Boutin and Courtney Saraul in the short track speed skating 3000m relay event. Ms. Blais competed in the women’s 1500m semifinals and advanced to the finals on the final Friday of the Games.

Mount Royal University student Jared Schmidt and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology student Reece Howden will compete in freestyle skiing on the final Saturday of the Games.

Many students concluded their Olympic journeys earlier in the Games.

Figure skater and University of Toronto student Stephen Gogolev ended in fifth place in men’s singles, after finishing second in the free program and tenth in the short program. The first-time Olympian was the top North American male skater of the 2026 Games. In women’s singles, McMaster University student Madeline Shizas performed her Lion King-inspired short program but missed qualifying to the free skate by less than a point.

Fellow McMaster student Trennt Michaud and partner Lia Pereira, who studies at U Guelph, finished eighth overall after taking third in the pairs short program. In ice dance, Marjorie LaJoie of U Laval and Zachary Lagha of Concordia University came in 10th place, while UQAM’s Marie-Jade Lauriault took 14th with her partner, Romain Le Gac.

Speed skaters Laura Hall of the University of Calgary and Rose Laliberté of U Laval made their Olympic debuts at Milano Cortina 2026. Ms. Hall earned ninth place in the women’s 5000m race, while Ms. Laliberté-Roy was 27th in the women’s 1000m race.

On the slopes, three U Laval students made their Olympics debut. Julien Viel finished sixth in moguls, while Elliot Vaillancourt finished 14th in the first finals round, failing to advance to the medal round. Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert ranked 12th in women’s moguls while Queen’s University student Maïa Schwinghammer finished in fifth.

Laurence St-Germain, an alpine skier and student at Polytechnique Montréal, finished 12th in the competition, while fellow alpine skier Ali Nullmeyer, who studies at Queen’s, was 16th.

Three Canadian students competed in ski jumping in the 2026 Games. Yorkville University’s Abigail Strate took 11th place, U Calgary’s Nicole Maurer’s best result was 19th while fellow U Calgary student Natalie Eilers came 49th. Meanwhile, in women’s aerials, Concordia’s Marion Thénault placed seventh.

Alison Mackie, studying at Queen’s, made history in women’s cross-country skiing when she took eight place, Canada’s best-ever Olympic result in the event. Teammates Liliane Gagnon, a student at U Laval, and Katherine-Stewart-Jones, studying at Athabasca University, placed 17th and 47th, respectively. Ms. Mackie and Ms. Gagnon also competed together in the team sprint and took ninth place. Mount Royal University student Xavier McKeever was sixth in the cross-country team sprint, alongside teammate Antoine Cyr. Thomas Stephen of U Calgary skied alongside Mr. McKeever in the 4 x 7.5km relay and was ninth among over 100 skiers in the 10km interval event.

In luge, Athabasca’s Devin Wardrope placed 10th while U Calgary’s Embyr-Lee Susko came in 15th. In Skeleton, Queen’s student Hallie Clarke was 19th in the final round of competition of her first Olympics. Also a first-time Olympian, Capilano University’s Jasper Fleming ended in 80th place in the men’s 10km sprint biathlon. Fellow biathlon competitor Benita Peiffer’s best result was in the women’s 7.5km sprint, where she took 56th place. In the same event, University of Ottawa’s Shilo Rousseau placed 80th. Ms. Rousseau also took 78th place in the 15km individual event.

Get to know the Olympians studying at Canadian universities here:

Speed skating 

Danaé Blais


Sport: Short track speed skating 
Age: 26  
Education: Danaé Blais is an undergraduate student in psychology at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and a member of Alliance Sport-Études, balancing athletic performance and university studies. 
Athletic highlight: An established figure in short track speed skating, Ms. Blais will be making her second Olympic appearance at Milano-Cortina in 2026, after debuting in Beijing in 2022. In recent seasons, she has stood out in both individual and relay events, contributing to Canadian medals at the World Championships and reaching the podium twice in the 2025 World Cup. In Milan-Cortina, she will compete in the women’s relay as well as an individual event. 

Félix Roussel


Sport: Short track speed skating 
Age: 24  
Education: Computer science major at Université TELUQ  
Athletic highlight: Félix Roussel will make his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026.  
He helped Canada win gold by skating in the final of in the men’s 5000 m at the 2025 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Championships. He also competed in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the mixed relay, where Canada went on to win gold. Mr. Roussel made his ISU World Cup debut in the fall of 2022 after an unusual off-season. After suffering a concussion in March 2022, he failed to be selected for the men’s national team, and instead was invited to train with the women’s national team over the summer. This motivational environment helped him to improve as he prepared for the Canadian championships in the fall.

Rose Laliberté-Roy


Sport: Long track speed skating 
Age: 27 
Education: Studying for a certificate in entrepreneurship and small business management at Université Laval. 
Athletic highlight: Rose Laliberté-Roy is set to make her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. Ms. Laliberté-Roy made her ISU World Cup debut in November 2022 and achieved a career highlight when she recorded a top 20 result in the 500 m at her first ISU World Single Distances Championships in 2025. She considers speed skating to be a “race against the clock” and attributes her success to her ability to remain calm under pressure.

Béatrice Lamarche


Sport: Long track speed skating 
Age: 27 
Education: Studying for an MD at Université Laval 
Athletic highlight: Béatrice Lamarche is set to make her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. She will become a second-generation Olympian, following her father, Benoît Lamarche, who competed in speed skating at Sarajevo in 1984 and Calgary in 1988. She began speed skating at the age of five and, as a teenager, competed at three straight ISU World Junior Championships, winning bronze medals in 2016 and 2017 and capping it off with a gold in 2018. Most recently, Ms. Lamarche earned her first individual medal on the ISU World Cup circuit at the 2025-26 season opener in Salt Lake City, taking bronze in the 1000 m.

David La Rue


Sport: Long track speed skating 
Age: 27 
Education: Studying for a certificate in economics at Université Laval 
Athletic highlight: David Larue started short track speed skating at age 12 after watching the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. He switched to long track at age 18 after a back injury prevented him from competing in short track. In 2019-20 he won three bronze medals at the ISU World Cup as a member of the team sprint squad. But he suffered a hip injury at the World Sprint Championships, from which he took more than a year to fully recover. He won his first individual medal at the 2025 ISU Four Continents Championships, with a silver in the mass start. Milano Cortina is his first Olympics.

Valérie Maltais


Sport: Long track speed skating 
Age: 35 
Education: Enrolled in a general BA and a certificate in human resource management at Université Laval 
Athletic highlight: This is the fifth Olympic Games for legendary speed skater Valérie Maltais, and she came out blazing, winning the bronze medal in the women’s 3000-metre event on Sat., Feb 7. She began her Olympic career in 2010 at the Vancouver games, competing in the 1500 m short track event. Four years later, at Sochi, she was part of the silver-medal-winning 3000 m relay team. She competed in 2018 at PyeongChang, but failed to medal. The changed in Beijing in 2002, when she won gold in long track speed skating in the team pursuit event, becoming one of only three athletes in the world to earn Olympic medals in both short and long track speed skating.

Laura Hall


Sport: Long track speed skating 
Age: 22 
Education: Student at the University of Calgary 
Athletic highlight: Laura Hall began speed skating at age five and at age six joined the Salmon Arm Ice Breakers in British Columbia. She initially competed in short track before switching to long track speed skating. Her brother, Daniel Hall, will also be a member of Canada’s long track speed skating team at the Games. They will become second generation Olympians, following their father, Michael, who competed in long track speed skating for Canada at Lillehammer 1994. Ms. Hall is making her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina, after joining the ISU World Cup circuit in 2022.

Figure Skating  

Madeline Schizas


Sport: Figure skating 
Age: 22 
Education: Completing an undergraduate degree in environment and society at McMaster University this year. 
Athletic highlight: Ms. Schizas is part of Canada’s figure skating team that took fifth place in the opening weekend of the Milano Cortina Olympic Games. She began skating at the age of three and started competing locally at just six years old. Watching the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where Quebec figure skater Joannie Rochette won bronze just days after the sudden death of her mother, inspired Ms. Schizas and further ignited her passion for the sport. Ms. Schizas made her Olympic debut at Beijing in 2022, where she was a key contributor to Canada’s fourth-place finish in the team event, finishing second in both the women’s short program and free skate portions of the competition. She posted her best world championship result in 2025 when she placed sixth in the short program.

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha


Sport: Figure skating 
Ages: 25 & 26 
Education: Marjory Lajoie is studying for a certificate in sexual health at Université Laval. Zachary Lagha studies contemporary dance at Concordia University 
Athletic highlight: Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha made their Olympic debuts at Beijing in 2022 after being crowned world junior ice dance champions in 2019. After finishing 13th in ice dance at Beijing, the pair went on to compete in the same event at the ISU World Championships, where they won fifth in 2024 and seventh in 2025. Ms. Lajoie is inspired by the work ethic and legendary status of two-time Olympic gold medalist ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Mr. Lagha is similarly inspired by Scott Moir, whom he calls “the most charismatic male ice dancer of our time.”

Stephen Gogolev


Sport: Figure skating 
Age: 21 
Education: Majoring in political science at the University of Toronto 
Athletic highlight: Stephen Gogolev delivered two inspiring performances on the opening weekend of the Milano Cortina Olympic Games, helping Canada’s figure skating team to a fifth-place finish. Mr. Gogolev will compete next in the men’s individual short program. He won his first senior national title at the 2026 Canadian Championships after several seasons disrupted by injuries. This is his first Olympics.

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud


Sport: Pairs figure skating 
Ages: 21 & 29 
Education: Lia Pereira is a third-year business management student at the University of Guelph. Trennt Michaud is a part-time student at McMaster University 
Athletic highlight: Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud delivered an impressive pairs skate on the opening weekend of the Milano-Cortina Olympics, where the Canadian team placed fifth. Ms. Pereira competed in the women’s singles at the junior level until 2022, when she was asked to join with Mr. Michaud to try pairs figure skating – within four months, they made their international debut. Ms. Pereira and Mr. Michaud earned a bronze medal at the 2025 Four Continents Championship and are now Canada’s national champions, having captured the gold at the Canadian National Skating Championships.

Marie-Jade Lauriault


Sport: Figure skating 
Age: 29  
Education: Marie-Jade Lauriault is also pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UQAM while building an international figure skating career with her partner and husband, Romain Le Gac. 
Athletic highlight: Ms. Lauriault will represent Canada in ice dance at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games, another milestone in a remarkable career that saw her compete at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics under the French flag. Since 2020, she and her partner, Mr. Le Gac, have proudly represented Canada; they have won several medals at the Canadian Championships and finished fifth at the 2024 Four Continents Championships. Their first event will be the rhythm dance on Feb. 9. 

Cross-country skiing 

Liliane Gagnon


Sport: Cross-country skiing 
Age: 23 
Education: Enrolled as a non-degree student at Université Laval. 
Athletic highlight: Liliane Gagnon strapped on cross-country skis for the first time at the age of 6, and never looked back. By 2022 she debuted on the FIS World Cup circuit, winning gold in the 4×5 km relay in 2024 and bronze in both the women’s 10 km free and women’s 20 km mass start classic in 2025. She finished the 2024-25 season as the second-ranked woman in the U23 category. Milano Cortina 2026 will be her first Olympic Games.

Xavier McKeever


Sport: Cross-country skiing 
Age: 22 
Education: Pursuing a bachelor of aviation management at Mount Royal University 
Athletic highlight: Xavier McKeever is a second-generation Olympian who first donned cross-country skis at the age of 2, following in the tracks of both his parents. His mother, Milaine Thériault, competed at Nagano in 1998, Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin in 2006. His father, Robin McKeever, competed at Nagano 1998 before becoming the guide for his brother, Brian McKeever, who won a total of 20 Paralympic medals. He has been on the FIS World Cup circuit since 2022, and won the men’s sprint free event at the Nordiq Canada 2026 Olympic Winter Games Trials.

Alison Mackie


Sport: Cross-country skiing 
Age: 20  
Education: Ms. Mackie is pursuing an honours BA in health sciences at Queen’s University. After she obtains her degree and retires from professional ski racing, she hopes to attend medical school.  
Athletic highlight: Ms. Mackie is set to make her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. At the 2025 FIS Junior World Championships, she won bronze medals for both the women’s 10 km free and women’s 20 km mass start classic. The first Canadian woman to win a world junior championship medal in cross-country skiing since 1989, she is the youngest athlete to compete on the Canadian Olympic team for cross-country skiing in 20 years.
Fun Fact: As soon as she could walk, Ms. Mackie started skiing in her backyard. She competed in her first Alberta Cup race at age seven, and grew up watching the Olympics with her family. Ms. Mackie has played the violin for over 10 years, she enjoys sewing clothing in her spare time, and her favourite recovery meal is pasta.

Tom Stephen


Sport: Cross-country skiing 
Age: 23  
Education: Mr. Stephen is currently working towards an engineering degree from the University of Calgary.   
Athletic highlight: After battling a back injury, Mr. Stephen won the men’s 10 km classic at the Nordiq Canada 2026 Olympic Winter Games Trials. Milano Cortina 2026 will mark his Olympic debut. 
Fun Fact: Mr. Stephen started skiing competitively at the age of 10, after getting into the sport at a very young age. His role model, Olympian Jesse Cockney, became one of his coaches. He loves fly-fishing and lives by the quote, “Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.” 

Katherine Stewart-Jones


Sport: Cross-country skiing 
Age: 30  
Education: Ms. Stewart-Jones is pursuing a bachelor of science in psychology through Athabasca University. In the future, she hopes to obtain a master’s degree in speech language pathology or attend teachers’ college.  
Athletic highlight: Ms. Stewart-Jones made her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022. Competing in five events, she broke into the top 30 in the skiathlon and 30 km mass start. She also helped the 4×5 km relay team to a ninth-place finish. 
Fun Fact: Although she started skiing as soon as she could walk, Ms. Stewart-Jones didn’t like it much at first; she was largely motivated by candy! These days, she loves to “get crafty” and explore her creative side, and she recently learned to sew. She also enjoys camping and other outdoor activities. Ms. Stewart-Jones has a twin sister, Emilie, who represented Canada at the 2012 Nordic Junior World Junior Ski Championships.

Freestyle skiing  

Jared Schmidt


Sport: Freestyle skiing (Ski cross) 
Age: 28  
Education: Mr. Schmidt is pursuing a bachelor of health and physical education – ecotourism and outdoor leadership at Mount Royal University.  
Athletic highlight: Mr. Schmidt won two bronze World Cup medals in 2021. His Olympic debut was at Beijing 2022, where he placed tenth overall.
Fun Fact: Mr. Schmidt started skiing at just two years old, and a text from Olympic teammate Brittany Phelan convinced him to try ski cross. He never washes his race socks because he heard somewhere that clean socks are not as fast!

Elliot Vaillancourt


Sport: Freestyle skiing 
Age: 26 
Education: Studying for a degree in mechanical engineering at Université Laval 
Athletic highlight: Elliot Vaillancourt started skiing at the age of five and now dedicates about 20 hours a week to training. He is making his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. Mr. Vaillancourt entered his first FIS World Cup events in January 2018, competing at Canadian-hosted stops in Calgary and Mont Tremblant. He joined the circuit full time for the 2019-20 season. His best World Cup season came in 2023-24 when he finished fifth in the moguls standings. He earned his first two World Cup podiums that season, finishing second in Alpe d’Huez, France, in December and in Val St-Côme, Quebec, in January.

Julien Viel


Sport: Freestyle skiing 
Age: 24 
Education: Studying for a degree in mining and metallurgical engineering at Université Laval 
Athletic highlight: Julien Viel feels at home on the slopes: both his mother and father were competitive skiers. Mr. Viel earned his first career FIS World Cup victory in January 2026 when he won the dual moguls in Val St-Côme, Quebec. It was his second podium of the season and the fifth of his career. He first stood on a World Cup podium in February 2023 when he finished third in dual moguls in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy. It was almost two years before his next podium, a second-place finish in moguls Val St-Côme in January 2025. He is making his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina.

Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert


Sport: Freestyle skiing 
Age: 28 
Education: Studying for a BA in physiotherapy at Université Laval 
Athletic highlight: Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert comes from a skiing family, and hit the hills at an early age. At 16 she realized she wanted to start competing seriously, and made the national team in 2018. However, it has been a long road since then. In her second appearance at the senior FIS World Championships in 2025, Desmarais-Gilbert had one of the competitions of her life as she finished fourth in moguls. This will be her first Olympic appearance.

Maïa Schwinghammer


Sport: Freestyle skiing 
Age: 24 
Education: Studying health sciences at Queen’s University
Athletic highlight: Maïa Schwinghammer started skiing by being towed behind a snowmobile on Christopher Lake in Saskatchewan. Her family eventually started making weekend trips to Canada Olympic Park in Calgary so that she could experience going downhill. She earned a spot on the national team in 2018 at age 16 and her first World Cup podium came in December, 2023, with a second-place finish in dual moguls in Bakuriani, Georgia. This is her first Olympics.

Marion Thénault


Sport: Freestyle skiing 
Age: 25 
Education: Studying aerospace engineering at Concordia University. 
Athletic highlight: This is Marion Thénault’s second Olympics, after winning a bronze medal in the mixed team aerials event in Beijing in 2022 along with teammates Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving. A gymnast for 14 years, she first strapped on skis when she was recruited by Freestyle Canada via RBC Training Ground to give aerials a try in 2017. By 2021 Ms. Thénault ranked third overall in the aerials World Cup standings and was named FIS Freestyle Rookie of the Year. Heading into the 2025-26 season she has 11 career World Cup podiums, including four victories.

Reece Howden


Sport: Freestyle skiing 
Age: 27 
Education: Studying Geomatics and surveying technology at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. 
Athletic highlight: At over six feet tall, Reece “Big Rig” Howden made his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022 where he finished ninth overall. Mr. Howden started downhill skiing at the age of two, and switched to ski cross when he was 17. He claimed three Crystal Globe World Cup titles in 2020-21, 2022-23 and 2024-25. He goes into the Milano Cortina Winter Games having won an impressive 31 medals on the World Cup podium.

Alpine skiing & ski jumping 

Laurence St-Germain


Sport: Alpine skiing
Age: 31  
Education: Biomedical engineering at Polytechnique Montréal  
Athletic highlight: Laurence St-Germain finished 15th in the slalom at her Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018, and 17th in her second Olympic appearance at Beijing in 2022. In 2023, she pulled off a surprise gold medal at the FIS World Championships, becoming Canada’s first world champion in slalom since Anne Heggtveit’s Olympic gold medal at Squaw Valley, California, in 1960. She also became the first Canadian alpine skier to win a world championship in a technical event since 1976.

Abigail Strate


Sport: Ski jumping  
Age: 24  
Education: With a diploma in graphic design from the Toronto Film School, Ms. Strate is now pursuing a bachelor of creative arts through Yorkville University.   
Athletic highlight: Ms. Strate helped bring home Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in ski jumping at Beijing 2022, when she and teammates Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Alexandria Loutitt and Matthew Soukup won bronze in the inaugural Olympic mixed team ski jumping event. 
Fun Fact: When she was six, Ms. Strate tried ski jumping on alpine equipment at a summer camp; she was recruited to Altius Nordic Ski Club that same day! Aside from ski jumping, she enjoys reading, drawing, playing guitar and working on freelance design projects. 

Ali Nullmeyer


Sport: Alpine skiing 
Age: 27 
Education: Studying at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University 
Athletic highlight: This is Ali Nullmeyer’s second trip to the Olympics, after competing in Beijing in 2022. The lifelong athlete started skiing before the age of two and was racing competitively at age nine. She earned a spot on Canada’s World Cup team for 2017-18, but disaster struck in training in October 2017, just ahead of the World Cup opener, when Ms. Nullmeyer tore both her right and left ACLs and suffered a torn left lateral meniscus during a fall. After undergoing surgery, she missed the entire season and half of the next, returning to competition in January 2019. Her first World Cup top-10 finish came in 2022, when she achieved a fifth-place finish in slalom in Zagreb.

Natalie Eilers


Sport: Ski jumping 
Age: 27 
Education: Completing a Bachelor of Commerce with a concentration in Finance at the University of Calgary 
Athletic highlight: Natalie Eilers began downhill skiing at age three. She started ski jumping in 2011, after her parents received an email from her elementary school offering an opportunity for young girls to try the sport. Eilers made her FIS World Cup debut in February 2017 at the Olympic test event for PyeongChang 2018, recording two top 30 finishes. She suffered a severe setback in 2024 when a crash landing led to a complete rupture of the ACL in her right knee as well as two meniscus tears, a fractured femur, and a partial shoulder dislocation. After surgery and rehab, she resumed competition in the fall of 2025.

Nicole Maurer


Sport: Ski jumping 
Age: 26 
Education: Studying astrophysics and computer science at the University of Calgary 
Athletic highlight: Currently ranked 28th in the World Cup standings, Nicole Maurer makes her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina. She started ski jumping at the age of five, and represented Canada at four FIS Junior World Championships in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020, and has competed at three senior FIS World Championships.

Luge & Skeleton 

Embyr-Lee Susko


Sport: Luge (Women’s singles)
Age: 20  
Education: Embyr-Lee Susko is working towards a bachelor of commerce at the University of Calgary.   
Athletic highlight: In 2025, Ms. Susko finished fourth at the World Championships on home ice at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Just a day later, she led Team Canada to a bronze medal finish in the mixed relay. 
Fun Fact: When she was seven, a Cub Scouts field trip sparked the Olympic dream for Ms. Susko; as soon as she hopped on the sled for the first time, she was hooked! Outside of luge, Ms. Susko enjoys surfing, waterskiing at boating at her family cottage in Nova Scotia. She also has a fluffy cat named Batman. 

Devin Wardrope


Sport: Luge
Age: 23
Education: Taking courses at Athabasca University
Athletic highlight: Devin Wardrope discovered his passion for luge at the age of 11, when his parents encouraged him to take a luge recruitment camp in Calgary. He was immediately hooked on the speed and adrenaline rush of the sport. He makes his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026 alongside longtime doubles partner, Cole Zajanski. The two began competing internationally together in 2019-20 and won a bronze medal as members of the Canadian relay team at the 2025 FIL World Championships in Whistler.

Hallie Clarke


Sport: Skeleton
Age: 21
Education: Studying health sciences at Queen’s University
Athletic highlight: A figure skater in childhood, Hallie Clarke switched to skeleton at age 14. Ms. Clarke debuted on the IBSF World Cup circuit during the 2022-23 season, competing for the United States, where she had lived for 13 years. In 2023-24 she joined the Canadian national team. In 2024, she became the youngest world champion ever in women’s skeleton at 19 years old, and topped off that achievement with a gold medal at the 2025 junior world championships. This is her first Olympics.

Biathlon 

Jasper Fleming


Sport: Biathlon
Age: 20
Education: Undergraduate student in biology at Capilano University.
Athletic highlight: After debuting on the IBU World Cup circuit in 2024-25, Jasper Fleming enters the Olympics for the first time at Milano Cortina. He started cross-country skiing at age seven and began doing biathlon at age nine, but it was while watching the 2012 Summer Games in London that he knew he would stop at nothing to compete under the Olympic rings. He is also an avid mountain biker and road cyclist.

Benita Peiffer


Sport: Biathlon
Age: 25
Education: Studying for a BA in communication and media studies at the University of Calgary.
Athletic highlight: Benita Peiffer started biathlon at age 14. She loved the challenge of adding shooting to the cross-country skiing skills she already had, and fully committed to the sport in 2020. That same year she tore her ACL and meniscus, potentially endangering her career. She pushed through the lengthy rehab and returned to compete at the 2021 Junior Worlds.   She makes her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina.

Shilo Rousseau


Sport: Biathlon
Age: 25
Education: Pursuing a Master’s in cellular and molecular medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Athletic highlight: Shilo Rousseau is set to make her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. She competed at her first senior IBU World Championships in 2025 as a member of the women’s relay team that placed 20th. Ms. Rousseau won three medals at the 2023 FISU World University Games, taking gold in the 10km pursuit and 12.5km short individual races as well as a silver medal in the 7.5km sprint. She began doing biathlon at age 12, skiing around her back yard and shooting at targets with an air rifle.

Hockey 

Blayre Turnbull


Sport: Women’s hockey
Age: 32  
Education: Master’s in Leadership at the University of Guelph
Athletic highlight: Blayre Turnbull will be competing in her third Olympics after winning gold in 2022 and silver in 2018. A Team Canada forward, Ms. Turnbull is the captain for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Martina Fedel


Sport: Women’s hockey
Age: 23  
Education: Animal biology major
Athletic highlight: Martina Fedel is an animal biology major at the University of Guelph. The Guelph Gryphons goaltender, who is making her Olympic debut with Team Italy, is a former Ontario University Athletics goalie of the year and U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian.

Sonia Mendes and Madeleine Gordon

Sonia Mendes is a freelance writer and editor based in Ottawa. Madeleine Gordon is an intern at University Affairs and a journalism student at Carleton University.

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