MILAN – Canadian speedskaters Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann were a win away from defending their Olympic crown in women’s team pursuit Tuesday.
The trio reached the ultimate after beating the USA by just over 4 seconds of their semifinal on the Milan Speed Skating Stadium.
The Netherlands beat Japan by just over a tenth of a second in the opposite semifinal to establish a gold-medal bout between the Canadian and Dutch women later within the day.
Related Videos
Canada posted the second-fastest time within the semifinals just below a tenth of second back of the Netherlands.
Get day by day National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Maltais, Blondin and Weidemann beat Japan for gold in 2022 in Beijing, where Nana Takagi fell with lower than a lap to go.
Maltais has already claimed an Olympic medal on the Milan Cortina Games with a bronze in the ladies’s 3,000 metres.
Canada’s long-track team has earned two bronze medals with Laurent Dubreuil also reaching the rostrum in the lads’s 500 metres.
Maltais and Blondin are also medal contenders in Saturday’s women’s mass start.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press