Canada eyes figure skating podium after mixed Day 5 at Milan Cortina Olympics

By Canadian Press on February 11, 2026.

MILAN — A potential storybook finish remains in play for Canada in figure skating on Day 5 of the Milan Cortina Olympics, even as other medal chances slipped away earlier Wednesday.

Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier start the free dance portion of the competition in third place after Monday’s rhythm dance portion, behind former Canadian skater Laurence Fournier Beaudry, now representing France with Guillaume Cizeron, and American three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

And it could be the final competitive skate for Toronto’s Gilles and Poirier, of Unionville, Ont., who are skating in their 15th seasons and are both 34 years old. These Games are the third of their careers.

There was some disappointment on the speedskating oval as Laurent Dubreuil finished eighth in the men’s 1,000 metres, four years after winning Olympic silver in the event. American star Jordan Stolz won gold, followed by Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands and Ning Zhongyan of China.

In Livigno, Canada had a shot to add to its medal total earlier Wednesday in women’s freeski moguls after Saskatoon’s Maia Schwinghammer advanced to the second final, but she finished fifth despite a solid run. Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf won gold and silver for the United States. Perrine Laffont of France, the 2018 gold medalist, took bronze.

Laffont’s score of 78 was just .39 better than Schwinghammer’s.

Toronto skier James (Jack) Crawford placed 16th in the men’s super-G in Bormio. Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen claimed his third gold of the Games, becoming just the third man to win three Alpine events at one Olympics. American Ryan Cochran-Siegle was second and Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt third.

In men’s curling, Brad Jacobs opened round-robin play by steering Canada to a 7-6 extra-end win over Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz. Jacobs used last rock to make a nose hit for the victory after Germany forced overtime with a deuce in the 10th.

Some members of Canada’s Olympic team sent condolences back home for those affected by Tuesday’s mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Canada men’s hockey general manager Doug Armstrong said real life “trumps anything we’re doing here.”

“You think about tragedies that happen … usually they happen somewhere else, so you never really feel the effect of it touching close to home. But this one’s close to home, and my heart goes out to all the families,” added head coach Jon Cooper, who is from Prince George, B.C., the closest major city to Tumbler Ridge.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.

The Canadian Press