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A trio of Canadian women made their Olympic speed skating debuts on Monday in the 1,000 metres, with Béatrice Lamarche leading the way in fifth.
Skating in the 14th of 15 pairs, she reached the finish in one minute 14.73 seconds to beat Japan’s Rio Yamada.
Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands won the gold medal in 1:12.31, taking the Olympic record from teammate Femke Bol, who went 1:12.59 minutes earlier for silver at Milano Speed Skating Stadium.
Japan’s Miho Takagi, the 2022 Olympic champion, took bronze in 1:13.95, while 37-year-old Brittany Bowe, in her final Games for the United States, was fourth (1:14.55).
Lamarche’s teammates, Carolina Hiller-Donnelly and Rose Laliberté-Roy, were 26th (1:17.156) and 27th (1:17.150).
Lamarche, 27, will also race in the women’s 500 this Saturday and the 1,500 on Feb. 20 alongside teammate Valérie Maltais, who grabbed a bronze medal in the women’s 3,000 on Saturday.
Lamarche’s breakthrough season began with a pair of Canadian titles in October. The Quebec City skater earned her first individual-distance World Cup medal the following month, taking bronze at the season opener in Salt Lake City.
Her personal best of 1:12.77 was just shy of the 1:12.68 Canadian record, held by Christine Nesbitt since Jan. 28, 2012.
Lamarche’s progress through the 2025-26 campaign is a result of mental work she began four years ago when she was struggling with anxiety and constant comparison with her competitors.
“I had a hard time comparing myself to others,” Lamarche said in a recent story on the Canadian Olympic Committee website. “My goal wasn’t necessarily to be good; it was to beat everyone else.”
Her perspective changed while working with a mental performance professional, and Lamarche now has a more calm approach to competition.
“It helped me refocus on myself and stop worrying about what others were doing,” she said. “If others performed well, it didn’t take away from my own performance.”
