{"id":482421,"date":"2026-02-18T06:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/482421\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T06:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:31:18","slug":"isabelle-weidemann-ties-record-for-most-career-medals-won-by-ottawa-olympian-with-4-ottawasportspages-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/482421\/","title":{"rendered":"Isabelle Weidemann ties record for most career medals won by Ottawa Olympian with #4 \u2013 OttawaSportsPages.ca"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This coverage was first sent as an email newsletter to our subscribers. Sign up to receive it, for free, on our Ottawa at the Olympics page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Newsletter by Dan Plouffe, Keiran Gorsky & Martin Cleary<\/p>\n

At the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, speed skater Kristina Groves became Ottawa\u2019s most decorated Olympian of all-time when she won her third and fourth career medals.<\/p>\n

Isabelle Weidemann was a Grade 10 student at Colonel By Secondary School at the time and just starting to get a little more seriously into speed skating, having finished third in the juvenile girls\u2019 mass start long-track provincial championships at the Brewer Oval.<\/p>\n

Today in Italy, Weidemann equaled Groves\u2019 career medal haul with a repeat gold in the women\u2019s team pursuit at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, as students and staff packed into the cafetorium at Colonel By to cheer her on alongside fellow Gloucester Concordes product Ivanie Blondin and Canadian teammate Val\u00e9rie Maltais of La Baie, QC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud. And I\u2019m so proud of all the work the three of us have done over the last four years,\u201d Weidemann said via the Canadian Olympic Committee, explaining they had to overcome nations that had surpassed them in the discipline since they\u2019d been victorious at Beijing 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe changed the strategy of our team a lot,\u201d added Weidemann, who fronted Maltais and Blondin for the full six-lap race instead of exchanging leaders. \u201cBut I think we\u2019ve also grown as athletes. We\u2019re four years older. We\u2019re a team of \u2018Madames\u2019, 30-year-old women, and we have a lot of experience and we know what it\u2019s like dealing with the pressures, and really coming to the Olympics and wanting to perform for our families in the stands and sharing this experience with them again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Isabelle Weidemann (left) celebrates with Ivanie Blondin (centre) and Val\u00e9rie Maltais after winning Olympic team pursuit gold. Photo: Leah Hennel \/ COC<\/p>\n

Weidemann\u2019s younger siblings Jake, who fell just short of qualifying for the 2026 Games, and Lily are also Colonel By grads, while her parents John and Laurel moved to Calgary to support their kids for several years at the national long-track team\u2019s home base.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe whole family is just super nice, really open and positive, helpful and supportive,\u201d Colonel By physical education department head Pat Lacasse told the Ottawa Sports Pages\u2019 Dan Plouffe. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s no wonder she is where she is, because it all starts at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Colonel By Secondary School team pursuit watch party. Photo: Dan Plouffe<\/p>\n

The watch party was spurred by the Concordes and Speed Skating Ontario. SSO vice-chair Christina Chenard was thrilled to see the magical moment they envisioned come to fruition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all starts here,\u201d Chenard highlighted. \u201cIt starts with community coaches. It starts with community support. And to see the Gloucester Concordes, the Ottawa Pacers, Speed Skating Ontario and the city really come out and support their athletes and help them build those pathways is really key.\u201d<\/p>\n

The year after the Vancouver Olympics, Weidemann had a wonderful and somewhat unexpected breakthrough when she placed fourth in the women\u2019s 3,000 metres skating outdoors at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax.<\/p>\n

She progressed onto the national team and made her first Olympic team a little earlier than anticipated at age 22 in 2018. Weidemann then made herself into a regular international podium contender come Beijing 2022 when she wound up being chosen as Canada\u2019s Closing Ceremonies flag bearer after winning a 3,000 m bronze medal \u2013 like Groves did in Vancouver \u2013 then silver in the 5,000 m and gold in team pursuit.<\/p>\n

\"\"Teenaged Isabelle Weidemann at a Gloucester Concordes short-track speed skating practice at Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex \u2013 Orl\u00e9ans. Photo: Dan Plouffe<\/p>\n

Following fifth-place finishes in her 3,000 and 5,000 races earlier at the Milano Cortina Games, Weidemann now has her fourth medal to match the total of Groves, who \u201creally fuelled me as a 13-year-old gangly kid at the Oval,\u201d Weidemann recalled after winning her first Olympic medal<\/a>. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh man, I just want to be like Kristina Groves.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, success breeds success,\u201d smiled Chenard, noting neither Groves nor Weidemann owned particularly sparkling results to their names before they joined the national team program \u201cand just progressively got better and better and better and better\u201d in their 20s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows that you don\u2019t have to be the best in high school and you don\u2019t have to be the best in every sport,\u201d added Chenard, highlighting Weidemann\u2019s background in alpine skiing, rowing, cross-country running and even soccer with the Cougars, which helped hone her athletic abilities, develop resiliency and build friendships to help fuel her love of sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting for young athletes to know they came from the same place,\u201d detailed the fellow CB grad. \u201cBeing able to see someone that did the same sports that they did here at school, or took the same classes, had the same teachers, and have walked some of the same paths that they\u2019ve walked, to see her on the top step of the Olympic podium, it\u2019s just really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Isabelle Weidemann running cross-country for the Colonel By Cougars. Photo: Dan Plouffe<\/p>\n

Beacon Hill-Cyrville city councillor Tim Tierney, whose daughter ran cross-country with Weidemann in high school and has remained friends with her, was on hand to watch the historic moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a true ambassador. I mean, the entire family is,\u201d Tierney indicated. \u201cIt was great to see the energy in this room. This is insane. You can tell there\u2019s a lot of pride in Colonel By, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s great for the next generations that come up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also among the crowd was Grade 12 student Adella Akanko, an Ottawa Pacers speed skater who recently placed second in the open women\u2019s 500 m at the long-track provincials.<\/p>\n

Akanko\u2019s classmates had been quizzing her a lot in advance of their race and knew not to panic when Canada was behind to the Netherlands early in the gold medal race \u2013 as is always the case while the Weidemann engine gets fired up. But most others in the crowd were groaning early on before their excitement built as the Canadians narrowed the gap and eventually took the lead en route to a victory by .96 seconds in 2:55.81.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really great feeling the energy shifting. At first the disappointment of dropping laps, and then we start cutting back on the time, the cheering and the excitement. It was pretty amazing,\u201d Akanko recounted. <\/p>\n

\"\"Adella Akanko (left) and Christina Chenard. Photo: Dan Plouffe<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing the hard work [Weidemann, Blondin and Maltais] have put in, everything they\u2019ve gone through, I\u2019m really proud as a Canadian, and as a speed skater especially, to see that, and also this great community at Colonel By, everyone coming out to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akanko, who has been accepted to study at the University of Calgary in city design and innovation, hopes to join the development program at the Olympic Oval next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsabelle has been a big inspiration for me,\u201d she underlined. \u201cA lot of us will be going to Calgary next year to train, so it just gives us a lot of hope for the future of speed skating in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH CBC SPORTS | Canada successfully defends Olympic gold medal in the women\u2019s team pursuit<\/p>\n

There was another watch party held simultaneously at Garneau high school in honour of their alum Blondin, who has the chance to join or possibly even surpass Weidemann\u2019s total of four Olympic medals before the end of Milano Cortina 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d Blondin reflected in an interview with CBC Ottawa\u2019s Omar Dabaghi-Pacheco, on assignment at the Games in Milano. \u201cThe whole crowd was with us. We had so many Canadian fans all the way around us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually look at the (video) screen during the race. I can kind of peek and I like to know what\u2019s going on, and as soon as we got into the green and got ahead, the whole crowd started going and I was like, \u2018Alright, we got this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH CBC SPORTS | \u201cI\u2019m PUMPED!\u201d \u2013 Canada\u2019s Blondin, Maltais, Weidemann reflect on their 2nd speed skating gold<\/p>\n

Blondin, who is 35 like Maltais, said the group\u2019s collective experience, plus skating together in the team pursuit for nearly a decade, was a huge asset.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the confidence we have going into these races, there is a sense of calm almost,\u201d highlighted the winner of 94 career World Cup and 18 World Championships medals. \u201cWe were calm, collected and we knew what we had to get done, and we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Isabelle Weidemann leads Val\u00e9rie Maltais and Ivanie Blondin to 2026 Olympic team pursuit gold. Photo: Leah Hennel \/ COC<\/p>\n

Concordes head coach Mike Rivet watched the race with the group at Garneau, then headed to Brewer Park to get the ice in shape for perhaps the last skate of the season on the outdoor natural ice oval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel pumped,\u201d Akanko signalled. \u201cIt\u2019ll be a very celebratory practice with all of us out there just riding the high of watching this.\u201d<\/p>\n

World\u2019s hardest-throwing female curler fires key bullet in big Canada win<\/p>\n

\"\"Rachel Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club rink have won three matches in a row at Milano Cortina 2026. Photo: Candice Ward \/ COC<\/p>\n

The Rachel Homan Ottawa Curling Club rink pulled out a mammoth 8-6 win over Sweden today to greatly improved their playoff prospects in the women\u2019s curling tournament.<\/p>\n

Locked in a relative stalemate with the lone unbeaten team in the event, Homan converted an exceptional triple takeout with her first skip stone of the seventh end while down 5-4.<\/p>\n

WATCH CBC SPORTS | Rachel Homan pulls off triple takeout in 8th end against Sweden on day 11 of Milano Cortina 2026<\/p>\n

The eye-popping shot prompted CBC commentator and former Homan teammate Joanne Courtney to remind viewers that Homan is the hardest-throwing female curler on the planet. The shot allowed Canada to earn a key deuce in the tight match.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a huge moment for us to lie two and flip that,\u201d Homan reflected via the COC. \u201cI wasn\u2019t quite sold\u201d that the triple takeout was possible, she noted. \u201cIt looked tough to me, but the girls had belief, we swept it awesome, had a great line call, it was a big team shot and a big change in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

A miss by Swedish skip Anna Hasselborg in the ninth end granted Canada a tie going into the final end with last-rock advantage, and Homan made a no-doubt final hit to score two and a crucial victory for Team Canada, which has inched its backs away from the wall after starting 1-3.<\/p>\n

Homan, alongside Emma Miskew of Ottawa, Tracy Fleury and Sarah Wilkes, now have a 4-3 record, with a match against fellow 4-3 side South Korea on tap to close out the round robin. Canada will play 2-5 Italy before then, while the Koreans face the Swedes, who have already booked their place in the semi-finals at 6-1. Canada and South Korea are currently tied for the fourth and final playoff spot.<\/p>\n

\"\"Team Canada\u2019s Jay Dearborn (right) and Mike Evelyn O\u2019Higgins blast off in the two-man bobsleigh event in Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo on Feb. 17. Photo: Candice Ward \/ COC<\/p>\n

In bobsleigh, Jay Dearborn again struggled with the challenging top portion of the Cortina track as he and fellow Ottawa bobsledder Mike Evelyn O\u2019Higgins failed to crack the top-20 required to race in the fourth run of the two-man competition.<\/p>\n

They finished 1.09 seconds back of the cut-off with a combined time of 2:49.78 for the three runs to place 23rd. Dearborn and O\u2019Higgins recorded the fourth-quickest start time of 4.84 in heat 3, behind the German teams who swept the podium. They had the sixth-fastest push starts combined for the first three heats out of the 26 entered.<\/p>\n

In biathlon, Ottawa\u2019s Zach Connelly and the Canadian men placed 17th in the 4\u00d77.5 km relay. The 24-year-old first-time Olympian was perfect in the prone shooting position but struggled in the standing portion, requiring a penalty lap and loading three extra bullets to hit the targets. He still lifted Canada one place from 18th on his anchor leg in the 20-team event.<\/p>\n

Ottawa Olympians in action on Feb. 18:<\/p>\n

Day 12 Preview: \u2018We\u2019ve always stuck together,\u2019 Emma Miskew on lifelong teammate Rachel Homan<\/p>\n

As Emma Miskew and Rachel Homan ready for their next big challenge of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics \u2013 a crucial test Wednesday against the host Italians \u2013 the Ottawa Curling Club pair can draw on all kinds of experiences, including a time when winning didn\u2019t come quite so easily for the all-time leaders in Grand Slam titles.<\/p>\n

\"\"Emma Miskew readies to sweep at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics. Photo: Candice Ward \/ COC<\/p>\n

In their relentlessly mental sport, vibes are perpetually on thin ice. When nothing is right, when shots are missed, it becomes too easy to deduce that something is fundamentally wrong and needs to be changed.<\/p>\n

Maybe that would have been the easy answer after Team Homan\u2019s swift departure from Miskew and Homan\u2019s last shared Olympic outing at PyeongChang in 2018 \u2013 a rare blemish on a near spotless record for the teammates since their earliest days in curling.<\/p>\n

In South Korea, they dropped their first three games and ended the round robin with a losing record, ultimately failing to qualify for the semifinals. The result kicked off Canada\u2019s now 12-year Olympic medal drought in women\u2019s curling.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t cause for panic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that a lot of people decide, after going through some hard years, to go a different direction or make a team change, but we\u2019ve always stuck together and worked hard together,\u201d Miskew noted in a pre-Games interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages\u2019 Keiran Gorsky<\/a>. \u201cHer talent and her drive and everything has also motivated me to do the same on my end through all these years. So we motivate each other. We help each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homan and Miskew first met at a Little Rocks program at the Rideau Curling Club<\/a> and later teamed up to win four consecutive Ontario Bantam titles from 2003 to 2006, followed by a 2007 Canada Winter Games gold medal.<\/p>\n

The 2010 world junior silver medallists have gone on to capture five Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women\u2019s titles.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rachel Homan (left) and Emma Miskew celebrated the second world titles of their careers at the 2025 championships in Sydney, N.S. Photo: Curling Canada \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

The past two seasons have been especially remarkable for Team Homan. They became the first team to go through the full Scotties tournament undefeated in 2024 and then repeated that perfect record in 2025 and went on to earn their second consecutive world title, concluding a dominant run of 142 match wins and just 15 losses over those two seasons.<\/p>\n

Despite a hiccup at the 2018 Olympics, and the occasional reminder that it\u2019s been awhile since the traditionally strongest women\u2019s curling nation in the world has hit the podium, Miskew suggested that Canada\u2019s medal drought isn\u2019t racking her mind.<\/p>\n

With myriad overarching narratives, real and imagined, the only real constant is the one who\u2019s been by the Brookfield High School and Carleton University grad\u2019s side for the last 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t have asked for a better person to go through this journey with than Rachel,\u201d Miskew underlined.<\/p>\n

You can read Gorsky\u2019s full feature on Miskew here on OttawaSportsPages.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also in action on Wednesday will be Gatineau cross-country skier Antoine Cyr<\/a>, who will race first and tag off to Xavier McKeever in the men\u2019s team sprint free event, while University of Ottawa Gee-Gees product Shilo Rousseau<\/a> will race the second leg for Canada in the women\u2019s 4\u00d76 km relay biathlon event.\n<\/p>\n

~ SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM ~<\/p>\n

We need your help to keep producing the local sports news you can\u2019t find anywhere else!<\/a><\/p>\n

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