Canada’s Own the Podium era started with 24 medals the last time the Winter Olympics were in Italy in 2006.
Twenty years after Turin, the Winter Games return to Italy at Milano Cortina with Canada trying to maintain its place near the top of the medal table.
In the five Winter Olympics dating back to Turin, Canada has always finished with at least 24 medals and placed no lower than fourth in total medals.
The Own the Podium program was created to push Canada to do just that at Vancouver 2010, and the results have been strong for two decades.
However, Canada came away with only four gold medals at the last Winter Games in 2022 in Beijing, the lowest number of first-place results since a three-gold showing in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. Beijing, of course, was a pandemic Olympics — though it’s impossible to say how much the unique circumstances and challenging run-up to the Games affected results.
Last week, the Canadian Olympic Committee set a goal of being a top-five country in total medal counts at Summer and Winter Olympics by 2035. But with government funding not rising in recent years, some sport officials have previously expressed concerns that Canada’s medal haul could take a hit at some point.
Will that be this year? Maybe. Canada doesn’t appear to have a ton of virtual locks, but the country still has potential to win in bunches in traditional strengths like short-track speedskating, freestyle skiing and snowboarding. Shoreview Sports Analytics, per a CBC report last week, projects Canada finishing fourth in the table with 27 medals (10 gold, nine silver, eight bronze). The country finished with 26 in 2022.
One way to avoid a letdown would be getting back on track in curling, hockey and figure skating. Canada got just two medals in 10 combined events in those sports last time out after collecting seven medals in the three sports in 2018. Canadians have a rich tradition in these sports, but there’s no guarantee the country will avoid a second straight shutout in figure skating.
The opening ceremony goes Friday, but competition starts Wednesday. Here’s a look at Canadian contenders to watch:
Canada won gold in the last two Olympics with NHLers in 2010 and ’14 before doing much worse without players from the top league (bronze in 2018, off the podium in 2022). With NHLers back this season, far more eyeballs will be on the hockey rink. For many Canadian fans, this is gold or bust.
Canada has taken gold in five of the past six Olympics, but the red and white are decisive underdogs this year. The U.S. swept this season’s four-game Rivalry Series, and the Americans won gold at last year’s world championship. But assuming it’s a one-game showdown for all the marbles between the longtime rivals, you can toss all the stats out the window. When the stakes are high and these teams are on the ice, anything can happen.
The last time Canada won gold in men’s curling, Jacobs skipped his then-Northern Ontario rink to the title in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. He returns with an Alberta-based rink this year to try to get Canada back on top of the podium.
Homan’s Ottawa-based rink easily has been the best team in women’s curling the past few years. But Team Homan fell well short of the Olympic podium in 2018 after earning the right to represent Canada. Canada has missed the medals in this event at the past two Olympics.
Marielle Thompson (women’s ski cross)
After suffering a season-ending knee injury last season, Thompson earned a pair of bronze medals in recent World Cup events. The Whistler, B.C., native is trying to add a third Olympic medal to her collection after taking gold in 2014 and silver in 2022. She’s one of Canada’s two flag-bearers at the opening ceremony.
Reece Howden (men’s ski cross)
Howden, from Cultus Lake, B.C., has dominated the World Cup circuit the past two years. He picked up his 22nd career gold last week in Switzerland.
Eliot Grondin (men’s snowboard cross)
Grondin won gold at last year’s world championships, three years after picking up silver at the Olympics to go along with a bronze in the mixed-team event. The Sainte-Marie, Que., boarder is a two-time World Cup season champion.
Mark McMorris (men’s snowboard)
The Regina native captured gold in slopestyle at the Winter X Games last month, his record 25th career medal at the event. McMorris has won bronze in slopestyle at the past three Olympics.
Cameron Spalding (men’s snowboard)
The Havelock, Ont., snowboarder won last year’s World Cup season title in slopestyle. The 20-year-old Spalding will be making his Olympic debut.
Laurie Blouin (women’s snowboarding)
The Quebec City native won silver in slopestyle at the 2018 Olympics before finishing fourth in 2022. She captured the world championship in big air in 2017 and gold in 2021.
Valerie Maltais (women’s speedskating)
Maltais heads to the Olympics in good form after earning silver in the mass start and bronze in the 3,000 at the final World Cup before the Winter Games. The La Baie, Que., native, Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin took gold in the team pursuit at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
Ivanie Blondin (women’s speedskating)
The Ottawa native won silver in the mass start at the 2022 Olympics and had the same spot on the podium in that event at the past three world single-distance championships.
William Dandjinou (men’s short-track speedskating)
Four years after narrowly missing selection for the Olympic team, Dandjinou enters these Games as the best skater in the world. The Sherbrooke, Que., native won three golds and one silver at last year’s world championships.
Steven Dubois (men’s short-track speedskating)
Dubois forms a strong 1-2 punch with Dandjinou. After taking a medal of each colour at the 2022 Olympics, the Terrebonne, Que., skater won four gold medals at last year’s worlds.
Courtney Sarault (women’s short-track speedskating)
The Moncton, N.B., skater won gold in the relay and silver in the 1,000 metres at last year’s world championships. She’s the daughter of former NHLer Yves Sarault.
Mikael Kingsbury (men’s moguls)
One of Canada’s best winter athletes, Kingsbury notched his 100th career World Cup win earlier this season. With dual moguls added to the Olympic program this year, Kingsbury has two chances to add to his three-medal Winter Games collection (one gold, two silvers). He’ll join Thompson as a Canadian flag-bearer.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (ice dance)
Canada’s best bets for a figure-skating medal. The team won silver at the past two world championships, but finished fourth at the Grand Prix final — the last major event before the Olympics.
Abigail Strate (women’s ski jump)
The Calgary native has six World Cup medals this season. She was part of the squad that took bronze at the 2022 Olympic team event for Canada’s first ski jump Winter Games medal.
Cassie Sharpe (women’s freestyle ski halfpipe)
Sharpe, from Comox, B.C., returned to competition last season after two years off while becoming a mother. The two-time Olympic medallist (gold in 2018, silver in 2022) won bronze at last year’s world championships.
Megan Oldham (women’s freestyle skiing)
Oldham, from Parry Sound, Ont., is coming off a bronze-medal win in big air at the X Games. She has four career world championship medals in slopestyle and big air.
Hallie Clarke (women’s skeleton)
In 2024, at age 19, Clarke became the youngest world champion in this event’s history. She added a world junior gold last year. She’s not a medal favourite here, but the Brighton, Ont., native could be an upset threat.
Jack Crawford (men’s alpine skiing)
The Toronto native has had a bit of a disappointing season after winning the famed Kitzbuhel downhill in Austria last year. He also won the super-G at the 2023 world championships.
Cynthia Appiah (women’s bobsleigh)
Appiah won a silver in monobob at a World Cup event last month in Germany. The Toronto native was eighth in monobob and the two-woman event at the 2022 Olympics.
