Laurent Dubreuil wins speedskating bronze as women’s hockey team defeats Germany

By Canadian Press on February 14, 2026.

MILAN — Speedskater Laurent Dubreuil added a bronze to Canada’s medal chest on Day 8 of the Milan Cortina Olympics, as the women’s hockey team advanced to the semifinals at the halfway mark of the Games.

The 33-year-old Dubreuil from Lévis, Que., sprinted across the men’s 500-metre finish line in a short-lived Olympic-record time of 34.26 seconds to capture his second long track Olympic medal, after a silver in the 1,000 in Beijing.

“I hadn’t won a medal the whole season. It’s been a rough season,” Dubreuil said. “This was the first year in seven or eight years I didn’t win a medal at any of the World Cups.

“I knew my level in training sometimes was good, when I was able to execute technically, when I was feeling good physically and mentally. I knew I had a shot, but I also know this is the toughest field ever in the 500 metres.”

United States star Jordan Stolz won gold in 33.77 seconds, while Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands took silver in 33.88 — both further lowering the Olympic record time set by the Canadian moments earlier.

“They just crushed my brief Olympic record, but I expected that,” Dubreuil said with a laugh. “I just hoped nobody else would be good enough. I can’t believe it now.”

The bronze marks Canada’s eighth medal of these Games (three silver, five bronze) and second in speedskating after Valérie Maltais came third in the women’s 3,000.

Canada remained without a gold medal through Day 8 — its longest drought at a Winter Games since 1988 in Calgary, when the host nation was shut out.

Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker said there was “a high degree of confidence” gold would come in the back half of the Games.

Short-track speedskater William Dandjinou, of Sherbrooke, Que., was favoured to reach the top of the podium in Saturday’s men’s 1,500-metre final but finished fifth. The Netherlands’ Jens van ’t Wout, who captured the 1,000 title earlier this week, won gold ahead of South Korea’s Hwang Daeheon and Latvia’s Roberts Kruzbergs.

The 24-year-old Dandjinou, a two-time Crystal Globe winner, narrowly missed a medal in the 1,000 earlier in the week. He’s set to compete in the 500 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the defending Olympic women’s hockey champion Canadians defeated Germany 5-1 to advance to the semifinals.

Captain Marie-Philip Poulin returned to the lineup after being injured earlier in the week and missing the last two preliminary-round games. She scored Canada’s fifth goal on a power play to give her 18 Olympic goals, tying Hayley Wickenheiser for the record.

Poulin had injured her right knee when she was checked into the boards by Kristyna Kaltounkova midway through the first period of Canada’s 5-1 win over Czechia on Monday.

“I just wanted to be back on the ice with the girls,” Poulin said. “It’s truly a special group. Unfortunately, I missed the game against the United States. I missed the game against Finland. You want to be part of that. You never want to be on the sidelines due to injuries. It’s part of it.”

In women’s curling, Canada’s Rachel Homan suffered a third straight loss after dropping an 8-7 decision to Switzerland. It came after losing to Great Britain 7-6 earlier Saturday.

Homan and teammates Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes are now in eighth place, sitting at 1-3.

In freestyle skiing, Canadians Megan Oldham and Naomi Urness qualified for the women’s big air finals Saturday. Oldham, of Parry Sound, Ont., finished first in the qualifier round with a score of 171.75 while Urness, of Mont-Tremblant, Que., ranked seventh with 161.25.

“I’m super satisfied with my skiing today,” Oldham said. “I was a little nervous going into that last run because I didn’t land super clean on my second one, so I knew I needed another score to get in, but I’m really proud of myself for landing under pressure.”

Oldham is looking for her second medal of the Games after winning bronze in women’s freeski slopestyle. The big air finals take place Monday.

Freestyle skier Maïa Schwinghammer of Saskatoon returned in women’s dual moguls after finishing fifth in the individual event earlier in the week, but did not advance past the 1/8 final.

In women’s skeleton, Canadians Jane Channell and Hallie Clarke finished 18th and 19th, respectively.

Austria’s Janine Flock topped the podium with a time of three minutes 49.02 seconds, followed by Germany’s Susanne Kreher and Jacqueline Pfeifer.

Channell finished with a time of 3.94 seconds behind Flock, and Clarke came in at 4.0 seconds behind.

“There is never a race, unless you win it, that you don’t always want more. There were mistakes, but I did the best I could do,” said Channell on the finish dock.

“Overall, it was a fantastic Olympics. To have our family and friends back here watching, and the setting in the Dolomites can’t get any better.”