In just a few short months, Canadians will get a chance to see Team Canada vie for medals in speed skating at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
But Canada’s fastest skaters are already working hard at the Olympic Oval to secure their spots on Team Canada as part of the qualifying taking place during the 2025 Canadian Long Track Championships.
As of Oct. 24, just two days into the competition, personal bests for Canada’s top athletes are being broken at an incredible rate—a good sign for the Olympics to come, said Joe Morrisette, CEO of Speed Skating Canada.
“We have high expectations going into Milan, but it’s sport. Sometimes you fall, sometimes you’ve got to pick yourself up, and sometimes someone’s better than you. But we’re feeling really, really confident with the racing we saw yesterday and the racing we hope to see in the next few days, about where we’re going to be set up for those games,” he said.
One of those athletes who has returned from the lows to reach a new high was Manitoba’s Alexa Scott, who recovered from a hip injury suffered four years ago to set a new personal best record of 1:15.26 in the Women’s 1,000 metres in Calgary.
“It’s been four years since I’ve got a personal best. I pretty much skated my personal best time when I was at the Olympics in Beijing,” she said.
Scott said that while there was pressure to perform at home ahead of the Olympics, racing in Calgary was part of getting ready for the World Cups that will also be held ahead of Milan.
“My main focus is being back skating, international competition, skating with the best in the world, and that’s where I want to be. So, yeah, this competition is a little more stressful because it’s that barrier getting me to where I want to be. So, I’m glad that it turned out the way it did today,” she said.
Brooklyn McDougall and Beatrice Lamarche race in the Women’s 1,000 metre race 2025 Canadian Long Track Speed Skating Championships at the Olympic Oval in Calgary on Friday, October 24, 2025. ARYN TOOMBS / FOR LIVEWIRE CALGARY
Success found on the fastest ice in the world
Calgary’s own Anders Johnson, who trains with the Calgary Speed Skating Association at the Olympic Oval, said it was exciting to get to the point where you pull back on training and start getting into race mode.
“At the same time, that brings a little bit of nerves, right, to put yourself out there and test it and see where you’re at,” he said.
Johnson finished third in the Men’s 1,000 metres—a sweeping finish for Albertans which saw Connor Howe first and Yankun Zhao second (also with a new personal best).
Johnson said a podium finish was critical for the upcoming months because the Canadian championships were also serving as part of the selection process for Team Canada’s entries in the upcoming World Cups.
“You can pre-qualify for the Olympics through those World Cup competitions, and as well, then you get experience racing against the rest of the world to prep you for the Olympic Games. So, this is huge. You get one race to qualify, and it can really set up your season and get you locked in ready for the games,” he said.
Having all of the athletes in Calgary competing, but also training at the Oval, was important for success in the Olympics, said Morrisette.
“We want to minimize distractions, let them focus on training and competing and really dial in for a performance,” he said.
“I’ll give you an example: In the last two weeks, we hosted two ISU Short Track World Tour events in Montreal back-to-back. They’re two of the four Olympic qualifiers, and we did that again to give our athletes that sort of advantage, that they could be competing at home.”
For fans of speed skating, or just curious Calgarians who want to check out the sport, racing will be held between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Olympic Oval through Sunday, Oct. 26, and is free to attend.
“You’re seeing upwards of 18 of Canada’s top Olympians. Speed skating is Canada’s most successful Olympic sport, and the short track and long track programs both contribute to that. So you’re seeing some of the best in the world this weekend, if you come on down,” said Morrisette.
For full results, see speedskating.ca/mec-events/2025-canadian-long-track-championships.
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