There are two things, besides being Quebecers, that these athletes have in common: They're at home on the ice and in the snow, and they're on their way to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
The Gazette's René Bruemmer profiled two skiers, two speedskaters, a pairs figure skater, a snowboarder and the Montreal Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin. Each of them is a force to be reckoned with and looking to bring home a medal.
Marie-Philip Poulin
Age: 34
Event: Ice hockey
Hometown: Beauceville
Poulin is the veteran captain of Team Canada’s women’s ice hockey team as it faces one of its toughest Olympic challenges. Canada has won gold at five of the seven Games at which women’s hockey has been featured, often thanks largely to Poulin. But in the most recent series against their arch-nemesis Team USA, it has been the Americans who dominated.
READ MORE: 'Captain Clutch' facing one of her toughest challenges yet
William Dandjinou
Age: 24
Event: Short-track speedskating
Hometown: Sherbrooke
During the last two seasons, the team — nicknamed the Canadian Ice Maples — has won multiple gold medals at ISU Short Track World Tour events, earning back-to-back yearly Crystal Globes as the overall leaders in the sport. Dandjinou also won the Crystal Globe as the top overall male skater for the last two years, becoming the first Canadian to do so.
READ MORE: William Dandjinou aims to spread his wings in Italy
Mikaël Kingsbury
Age: 33
Event: Freestyle skiing
Hometown: Deux-Montagnes
Kingsbury has become the most dominant force in the history of moguls skiing, cementing Quebec’s long history of dominance that started in the 1990s with Jean-Luc Brassard and continued with the likes of Alexandre Bilodeau and Montreal’s Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Maxime, Justine and Chloé.
READ MORE: Medal hopes soar for Kingsbury's freestyle squad
Valérie Maltais
Age: 35
Event: Long-track speedskating
Hometown: La Baie
At age 35 and entering her fifth Olympics, Maltais appears to be hitting her prime at the perfect time. One of only three in the world to have won Olympic medals in short-track and long-track events, Maltais completed the fastest 3,000 metres of her career in November, taking a silver medal at the opening of the World Cup season in Salt Lake City, Utah.
READ MORE: La Baie speedskater Valérie Maltais peaks on long track to Italy
Éliot Grondin
Age: 24
Event: Snowboard cross
Hometown: Ste-Marie
Grondin has one of the quickest starts in the world, an advantage he picked up after years of being the youngest competitor. As the smallest among larger men, Grondin knew he had to get out front fast if he was to have a chance at winning. He has honed his starting technique through hundreds of competitions. That and a fierce dedication to daily training led him to win seven of the 13 World Cup races he competed in during the 2023-2024 season.
READ MORE: Snowboard prodigy Éliot Grondin guns for gold
Laurence St-Germain
Age: 31
Event: Alpine skiing
Hometown: St-Ferréol-les-Neiges
The skier from the small town of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, 48 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, stunned the skiing universe in 2023 by winning gold at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships, the first time a Canadian had done so in 63 years. It was only the second time Canada had won gold in the event. St-Germain beat out American skiing legend Mikaela Shiffrin to win the race.
READ MORE: Can St-Germain carve out another slalom upset?
Deanna Stellato-Dudek
Age: 42
Event: Pairs figure skating
Hometown: Park Ridge, Ill.
Maxime Deschamps
Age: 34
Event: Pairs figure skating
Hometown: Pointe-Claire
Stellato-Dudek’s comeback story is among the most incredible in modern figure skating history and in sports in general. She was a 17-year-old teen phenom from a Chicago suburb aiming to represent the U.S. at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics until injuries forced her to hang up her skates for 16 years. Twenty-four years later, she’s finally getting the chance to fulfill her dream.
READ MORE: Stellato-Dudek battles injury to keep skating dream alive
