At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, the Canadian star was Ted-Jan Bloemen, who was born in the Netherlands and was able to represent Canada because his father Gerhard-Jan was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick. Bloemen won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres and a silver medal in the men’s 5000 metres.
At the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, expectations are significantly higher, and only two Olympic medals for Canada in speed skating would be a bitter disappointment. Heading into the Olympic Winter Games, there is in fact a genuine possibility that Canada could actually win seven medals.
Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario is a strong medal threat in the women’s 3000 metres (February 5 at 1:30 a.m. MT), the women’s 5000 metres (February 10 at 5 a.m. MT), and in the women’s team pursuit alongside Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Ontario, and Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec (February 15 at 1:28 a.m. MT). In the women’s 3000 metres, Weidemann won the World Cup standings in the fall of 2021. She also finished second to Irene Schouten of the Netherlands in a World Cup women’s 5000m speed skating event in Stavanger, Norway on November 19. In the women’s team pursuit, Canada enters the event as the gold medal favourite having won the World Cup Standings in 2020 and 2021, and finishing second to the Netherlands in the 2021 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Blondin is the reigning World Cup champion in the women’s mass start and won the silver medal behind Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands at the 2021 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands. She is expected to compete on February 19 at 2 a.m. MT.
On the men’s side, Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Quebec won the gold medal in the men’s 500 metres and the bronze medal in the men’s 1000 metres at the 2021 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships. He also was the 2021 World Cup champion in the fall in the men’s 500 metres. The Olympic men’s 500 metre competition will be on February 12 at 1:53 a.m., and the Olympic men’s 1000 metre competition will be on February 18 at 1:30 a.m. MT.
Connor Howe of Canmore, Alberta is heading into the Olympics with momentum after finishing second to Joey Mantia of the United States in the men’s 1500 metres at a World Cup in Calgary on December 11. Howe had a personal best time of 1:42.43. The men’s 1500 metre Olympic competition will be on February 8 at 3:30 a.m. MT.
Bloemen finished third in the 2021 World Cup standings in the men’s 5000 metres and the men’s 10000 metres. Meanwhile, Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2020 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City. The men’s 5000 metres will be on February 6 at 1:30 a.m. MT, and the men’s 10000 metres will be on February 11 at 1 a.m. MT.
