Just hours into Day One of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Canada is on the podium.
Valérie Maltais of Saguenay, Quebec, will go down as the first Canadian of the Milano Cortina Olympics to reach the podium.
The 35-year-old had an incredible race. Her final race time of 3:56.93 actually tied the previous Olympic record for the women’s 3,000-metre speed skating event.
Unfortunately for Maltais, she went up against the eventual gold medal winner, Francesca Lollobrigida. The Italian speed skater was trailing Maltais for the first half of the race, but an amazing final sprint led her to win gold on home soil.
Valérie "No Quit" Maltais 🇨🇦
The Canadian with a gritty 3000m race, currently sits 2nd with 4 skaters remaining at #MilanoCortina2026
WATCH: https://t.co/qfg2rakCEX pic.twitter.com/d5kOEgvYMG
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 7, 2026
Isabelle Weidemann was another medal hopeful for Canada. She finished fifth in the final standings.
For Maltais, she continued her hot streak in women’s 3000-metre speed skating after winning bronze in a World Cup race back in January. In that race, she made the podium with a time three seconds slower than her Olympic performance (3:59.2).
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This was the Maltais’ third medal at the Olympics. She won silver in the women’s 3,000m relay event back in 2014. Maltais also helped Canada win gold at the team pursuit relay event at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
She joined elite company in 2022 as one of the only women’s speed skaters to win a medal in both long and short-track events.
Now, she has her first individual Olympic medal.