The Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics: Team Canada Hopefuls

72 Days until the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 22: Shannon Szabados #1 of Canada skates past the Olympic Rings in the first period against the United States during the Women’s Gold Medal Game on day thirteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 22, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games since 1924, winning at least one medal each time (one of only six nations to do so). In recent decades the country has excelled setting a record for most gold medals by a country in the 2010 Vancouver Games (since eclipsed by Norway with 16 in the 2022 Beijing Games). Canada’s best overall performance was at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics where Canadian athletes won 29 medals.

Canada has won a total of 225 medals at the Winter Olympic Games since 1924, including 77 gold, 70 silver, and 78 bronze medals, placing it in a tie for fourth overall in all-time medal count.

Canada has hosted the winter games twice: in Calgary in 1988, and in Vancouver in 2010.

Below are some of the Canadian Winter Olympic hopefuls for 2026.

The Canadian Men’s Hockey Team

To say that Canada has high expectations for its Olympic Men’s Hockey Team is a gross understatement. In a June 16, 2025 press release Katherine Henderson, Hockey Canada’s president and chief executive officer stated:

“We are excited to announce the first six players who will represent Canada at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games next February, as these are six world-class players and leaders that are deserving of this recognition,” Armstrong said. “Sidney, Nathan, Cale, Connor, Brayden and Sam provide a strong foundation for a successful team and have been proven winners at all levels of their professional and international careers, and we look forward to all six being key contributors to our team as we look to accomplish our goal of winning Olympic gold.”

Crosby is a two-time Olympic champion who won back-to-back gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics Winter Games, while MacKinnon, Makar, McDavid, Point and Reinhart will make their Olympic debuts at Milano Cortina 2026. All six players helped Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off championship in February, while three are former first-overall picks in the NHL Draft (Crosby, MacKinnon, McDavid). Full stop.

Pairs Skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps

Stellato-Dudek is the 2000 World Junior silver medalist in single skating, but then retired from skating due to injury. After 16 years off the ice, she came back in March 2016 and teamed up first with Bartholomay in July 2016 and in 2019 with Deschamps. Stellato-Dudek received Canadian citizenship in December 2024. At 42, she would be one of the oldest skaters in Olympic history. The pair teamed up in 2019 with a goal to make the Olympics. Since then they have won Canadian national championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and became the reigning 2024 World Champions, winning gold in Montreal last year.

Snowboarders Mark McMorris and Laurie Blouin

Three-time Olympic medalist Mark McMorris and two-time Olympic medalist Laurie Blouin are veterans on the national team. McMorris has won bronze medals at three different Olympics (2014, 2018 and 2022) in the slopestyle event. Blouin in turn has won a silver medal in the slopestyle event in Pyeongchang in 2018.

Freestyle Skier Mikaël Kingsbury

Mikaël Kingsbury is a Canadian freestyle skier and the most accomplished moguls skier of all time. He holds numerous records, including the most men’s World Cup moguls and Overall Freestyle World Cup titles. After winning his 70th World Cup gold last earlier this year, he claimed his 100th World Cup podium after winning the men’s moguls event in Deer Valley, USA in March. He is the first man to 100 world cup podiums in any freestyle discipline. Kingsbury has won a silver medal at the 2014 and 2022 Olympics and a gold medal at the 2018 Games.

Alpine Skier Valerie Grenier

At 28 years old, Grenier brings a wealth of experience to the 2026 Canadian Olympic team. She just made her sixth appearance at the 2025 World Championships in February. Grenier won a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2022 Beijing Games. In March of 2024 she suffered a horrific crash during a World Cup super-G race in Cortina (That’s right–the site of the 2026 Winter Olympics). Grenier required shoulder surgery to repair a fractured humerus and also underwent reconstructive right knee surgery.

This isn’t the first time Grenier has returned from injury either. In February 2019, she broke her ankle and leg in multiple places during a training run at the world championships in Are, Sweden.

It was a long road to recovery this time. “You have to go for it. You have to push yourself. The first part is the hardest because you’re doing nothing. It’s being ready to work hard and take the time that you need. And remember the goal at the end,” Grenier said.

The Canadian Women’s Hockey Team

No team has been more dominant in Olympic hockey. Team Canada has never missed a podium since women’s hockey was added to the Olympic program at Nagano in 1998. They enter the tournament as the reigning Olympic champions winning gold in Beijing in 2022. Team Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin became the first player (male or female) to score in four Olympic gold medal games. Team Canada’s women’s roster will also be announced in January.

Freestyle Skier Cassie Sharpe

Sharpe won a gold medal in the Women’s Halfpipe in PyeongChang in 2018 and a silver medal in the same event in Beijing in 2022. Then she became a mom, stepping away from the sport for three years. Today she’s back. In January of 2025 she would become the first mom ever to win an X Games ski superpipe gold medal.

So how far can Sharpe go? Maybe that’s no longer the question. Motherhood has reshaped Sharpe’s approach to competition itself. She’s still fiercely competitive, still determined to prove she’s back at the top, but the stakes feel different now.

“I want to prove I’m back. I want to land my run, so I’m putting the pressure on myself,” she said. “But I also think having Louella, my priorities, my risk and reward has shifted. I try not to think about it too much… but if I get injured, that’s a huge burden on my family and husband. I have this little baby to take care of.”