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Toronto teen Lisa Brunga is set to make her Olympic debut on Wednesday in the women’s slalom event — but she won’t be representing Canada.
Instead, the 17-year-old first-generation Canadian will be competing at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games as one of four Albanian athletes.
“It means a lot to represent my country, where my parents are from, because Albania is not really represented in the Winter Olympics or any Olympics really,” she said.
Brunga, who was born in Toronto and holds dual citizenship with Albania, first started competing when she was six-years-old at the Craigleith Ski Club at Blue Mountain, about two hours north of the city. Over the years, skiing has taken her around the world, she says, having competed on four continents before the Winter Games in Milano Cortina. Brunga is currently a Grade 12 student at Branksome Hall in Toronto.
She is the youngest member of this year’s Albanian Olympic team, which consists of four skiers. Brunga spent a week in Albania before the games, where she says people would ask for her photograph.
Brunga said that when she competes, she’ll be facing directly towards the crowd with excitement.
“This entire experience has been unreal and being there it’s like the outcome of all the work I’ve put in,” she said.
Her roots to the country are strong, with most of her family still living there. She says the support has been incredible.
“They’re very proud. They’re bombarding my dad and my mom with texts … especially from my parents’ hometown,” she said.
‘It’s a great achievement,’ her coach says
Bebe Zoricic, Brunga’s coach at Craigleith, said that experiencing the Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I think it’s a great achievement, and it’s good for her development not only in the sport, just as a person,” he said. “We are proud of her.”
“There’s a lot of pressure on her, she definitely wants to do the best that she can,” he added that due to her dual citizenship, it gave Brunga the opportunity to compete for Albania.
Zoricic encourages young athletes to not give up, adding that its a shame to quit without seeing how far they can go. He said that Brunga is a prime example of an athlete who continued competing despite not ranking first or second in the country and made it to the Olympics.
“I’m hoping to have more athletes like her to represent our team and their own country, hopefully Canada, that would be the final goal,” he said. Zoricic said to qualify for Canada takes a long time and its very difficult but its something that Brunga could pursue in the future.
After the Olympics — and high school — she says the next step in her career will be McGill University, where she will continue pursuing the sport.
“If all goes well, hopefully I will go to the 2030 Olympics, that’s my plan,” she said. “I love skiing, so I just want to continue for as long as I can.”