Student Olympians bring home medals and memories

A select group of Canadian student athletes came home from the 2026 Winter Olympics bearing medals won on the speed-skating oval and the hockey rink. 

Université Laval student Valérie Maltais earned three medals in the Games and was one of two Canadian flag bearers in the closing ceremony on Feb. 22. 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.

Stephen Dubois, a student at Université de Montréal, won gold in the men’s 500 m short track speed skating, and took home silver as part of the short track mixed relay 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 Feb. 20, narrowly missing the podium. 

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.  

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 of 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 Olympians came home without medals, but with proud results and memories of a once-in-a lifetime experience. 

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 for 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 Olympic 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 eighth 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. 

Mount Royal University student Jared Schmidt and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology student Reece Howden competed in freestyle skiing, where Mr. Howden made it to the quarter finals while Schmidt was eliminated in the previous round. 

In luge, Athabasca’s Devin Wardrope placed 10^th, 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.

Congratulations to all the student Olympians.