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Newsletter by Keiran Gorsky, Martin Cleary & Dan Plouffe
Half-part coach, half-part maintenance man, one Mike Rivet was blowing snow off the ice oval at Brewer Park this morning. When the time came, Rivet turned off the noisy contraption and sat down. He navigated to the CBC Gem app on his phone and tuned into the last Olympic race of Ivanie Blondin’s storied career.
As a girl, Blondin learned her trade with the Gloucester Concordes on this natural ice surface. Rivet coached Blondin and a young Isabelle Weidemann through the bitter winters of their childhoods.
“A pretty sweet moment,” Rivet described his feelings. “Pretty special to be out here where she started.”
Some 6,000 km eastward, Blondin claimed her second medal at these Olympics – a silver in the women’s mass start, matching Weidemann and fellow speed skater Kristina Groves’ record as the most decorated Ottawa Olympians ever.
WATCH CBC OLYMPICS | Canada’s Blondin adds mass start silver medal to her gold at Milano Cortina 2026
It ought to be a time for celebrating and unbridled reminiscence. It is that time. But as she spoke to The Canadian Press’s Donna Spencer after her race Saturday, Blondin alluded to a much more difficult period early in her career – when she moved to Montreal at age 16 to train with the national short-track team.
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All alone away from home, Blondin felt isolated from a team that never seemed to accept her as one of the family. Taking high school correspondence classes all the while, she gradually became removed from her peers on and off the ice.
As Rivet recalls, Blondin never felt she earned the respect of the program even as she increasingly became the “work horse” of the team. Nor did she have any great love for Montreal as a city. In 2010, she opted to quit the sport altogether and moved back to Ottawa.
“I was just very depressed,” Blondin relayed as she’s explained in the past. “I had an eating disorder and had to pull myself kind of out of it. My parents were like ‘You’re done!’”
Back home, Rivet remembered meeting Blondin at a Tim Hortons, where they spoke for two-and-a-half hours. This was where Rivet persuaded her to give long-track a try. Immediately after, Rivet got on the phone with a friend in the moving business and asked when his next truck to Calgary was leaving.
“‘I need five feet at the back,’” Rivet remembered saying.
Her father Bob Blondin was not pleased, Rivet recalled. Seeing the mental anguish she went through in Montreal, he had become convinced the sport was simply bad for her health. As it turned out, the switch was exactly what Blondin needed.
She felt immediately at home in Alberta, with the wilderness always approachable.
What followed was a long-track career for the ages, Blondin having appeared on nearly 100 World Cup podiums in her life. If her record at the Olympic Oval is any indication, in Calgary, Blondin feels at home.
“There’s a lot more freedom in Calgary,” she offered. “Being close to the mountains… I’ve always been very much like a country girl, and growing up, you know, I’ve always been hands and feet in mud.”
When she touched back down in Ottawa after her first two-medal campaign in Beijing 2022, Rivet met her with her parents.
“‘Little did we know how important that cup of coffee was that day,’” Rivet remembered her telling him.
WATCH CBC OLYMPICS | Canada’s Blondin before winning silver in her final Olympic race, ‘this is our last dance’
Blondin was relegated to a few pixels on his phone screen Saturday as she skated to a second consecutive Olympic silver medal in the mass start event. Even so, her speed and feistiness could never be obscured.
Blondin qualified for the medal race with a sixth-place finish in her semi-final heat. She paced herself carefully in the early goings of the finals, resisting the urge to dash to the front but steadying herself so as not to drift to the back. Always scanning, Blondin keeps a watchful eye on the competition.
“I’m sure you all noticed when you were watching the race that she’s looking back, forwards and sideways all the time,” Rivet observed. “That’s the beauty of good mass start racers – they know where everybody is at all times.”
As the pace quickened, so did Blondin. She slipped into third place as the collective brisk glide turned to a sprint with two laps to go. When the final lap came, she dashed into silver medal position, passing the United States’ Mia Manganello on the inside. Blondin continued to push, though not quite enough to catch Marijke Groenewoud for the gold.
“I want to go into the last lap being conservative and waiting for that right moment in the last corner to pass,” Blondin explained. “I think I was a little bit too patient, and that’s what probably cost the gold medal today.”
After parading the maple leaf around with fellow team pursuit Olympic champion Valérie Maltais, who placed fifth despite an early fall, Blondin reiterated her retirement plans, at least as far as the Olympics go.
She mentioned her next goal that she has alongside her husband Konrad Nagy, a former speed skater himself, is to have a hobby farm at their home in Calgary.
Back in Ottawa, Rivet has got the ice cleared at the Brewer Park Oval, ready for a new generation of speed skaters to take their turn going round and round, Ottawa’s most successful Olympian of all-time having taken her final lap.
Team Homan rebounds from depths to claim first Olympic medal
It might not be their top choice for its colour, but Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew have added an Olympic medal to their trophy case at long last. Together with third Tracy Fleury and lead Sarah Wilkes, the Ottawa Curling Club rink topped the United States’ Team Tabitha Peterson 10-7 to claim the bronze medal at Milano Cortina 2026.
The competition began with all the makings of another Olympic letdown. At PyeongChang 2018, Team Homan dropped three of their first four games just as they did in the round robin here in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Canadians ultimately posted a losing record eight years ago as they fell just short of the playoffs.
Things went a little different this time around. Through thick and thin and stifling improbabilities, the team managed to win their five remaining round robin games to steal a playoff spot at these Olympics.
“To scramble back and win five in a row and have to do it in very [high] pressure situations, you know, speaks well for the girls,” their former coach Earle Morris, who was in Italy to watch their matches while rooming at a monastery, said in a phone interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Keiran Gorsky Friday.
WATCH CBC OLYMPICS | Rachel Homan says she ‘couldn’t be prouder’ of her rink after winning Olympic curling bronze
As the higher ranked team after the round robin, the Americans started with last-rock advantage. Both sides traded ambitious shots in the opening end – Fleury, who missed a number of key shots in the semi-final against Sweden, pulled off a daring angle-raised takeout on her second throw to remove the American counter. After two Homan draws, the U.S. guided their last stone around cover and scored their first point off a tap back.
Both teams went on to exchange singles through the first half of the game. Homan had the chance to score two in the fourth end, but her final shot rubbed off an American stone in the four foot before it could reach the button. The Americans led 3-2 at the five-end break.
The floodgates soon flew open. Team Peterson made two costly errors in the sixth end. Second Tara Peterson, Tabitha’s sister, was heavy on her second stone, as it sailed through the house and out the other side. Tabitha flubbed a hit-and-roll on her final stone, allowing Homan to score three on a hit-and-stick.
“I am really proud of our fight, never giving up right up to the end, pulling for each other when things were hard and pulling closer together,” Homan told World Curling.
Though the fight wasn’t over. Peterson drew two to the button to tie the game in the seventh. The American skip attempted a difficult triple takeout on her final stone, but only managed to remove one, granting Homan an open draw for another three points.
Peterson made two more tap backs to bring the score within one in the ninth. On her final shot of the game, though, she clipped a Canadian guard stone, sealing the win for Homan without having to throw her final rock.
WATCH CBC OLYMPICS | Canada’s Rachel Homan claims women’s curling bronze with win over U.S.
“It’s hard to describe,” Homan said after the game. “The week that we had, the fight that we showed, I’m so incredibly proud of the team and how we fought to get this bronze medal.”
The win ended Canada’s 12-year Olympic medal drought in women’s curling.
Jared Schmidt ‘robbed’ of advancement in ski cross
In a matter of minutes on Saturday, Jared Schmidt’s Olympic men’s ski cross competition transformed from an electrifying moment to mystifying madness as the 28-year-old’s Olympic dreams washed away in an instant.
The second-time Olympian who finished 10th in Beijing looked like his day might be over in the 1/8 finals round until he surged into a top-2 qualifying position on the final stretch as Sweden’s Erik Mobärg stumbled backwards on the final jump of their race, nearly beating out eventual bronze medalist Alex Fiva to the finish. For a brief moment, the Dunrobin skier was all smiles.
But after video review, Schmidt was informed by a race official that he had caused a straddle (when a skier passes on the wrong side of a gate pole) when he supposedly made contact with another skier (presumably Mobärg) early on the track. Schmidt was issued a disqualifying yellow card. Mobärg, in turn, was awarded a DNF, while Czechia’s Daniel Paulus, who crossed the line in fourth, advanced to the quarter-finals by default.
WATCH CBC OLYMPICS | Canada’s Jared Schmidt furious after receiving YELLOW CARD in men’s ski cross at Milano Cortina 2026
“You work so hard for four years, and then you kind of feel like you get robbed like that,” Schmidt told Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press.
“It’s tough when you go four years and you feel like you’re skiing the best you ever have,” the Mont-Tremblant athlete added via the Canadian Olympic Committee. “It’s hard to wrap my head around it. I don’t really know what to make of it.
“I would never do anything to intentionally alter someone’s race. … I’m very disappointed in the call because I think I had a lot more in the tank today. I was ready to go all the way.”
It was another difficult day in what has been one of Canada’s strongest events since its Olympic inception in Vancouver 2010. This marks the first time Canadians have failed to medal in the discipline. Jared’s sister Hannah was narrowly eliminated in the women’s quarter-final Friday.
Schmidt’s teammate and gold medal favourite Reece Howden was incensed that the event took place at all given the heavy snowfall. Howden lost most of his momentum in the quarter-finals when he was crowded on a turn by Italy’s Federico Tomasoni, who went on to take silver.
“Honestly, like, the weather is ridiculous. It is a joke,” Howden commented to the CBC’s Kelly Vanderbeek. “I bet you – I don’t know what the times are, but it’s gotta be, like, 10-15 seconds slower. It’s a completely different course.”
On top of the weather that further slowed it, the Olympic course drew criticism for already being too slow, a boring design and unfitting of what was supposed to be the pinnacle showcase for the sport that delivers a much different product on its regular World Cup circuit.
“The Canadian guys, like we didn’t get it done today, but it’s just one event,” Schmidt underlined. “We compete so much during the year, and we have so much success on our team that it’s a cool team to be a part of. We have a lot of fun. We ski fast, we ski fair, and we’re really f*ing good.”
In a pre-Games interview with Ottawa Sports Pages High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary, Schmidt detailed his plan for what his Olympic race day would look like from the moment his alarm sounds. Nowhere had he envisioned a yellow card appearing out of thin air.
“It sucks. It really does,” a teary-eyed Schmidt told CBC’s Kelly Vanderbeek. “I feel like I got robbed here today. … We have the best team in the world. I’m just sorry I couldn’t… I mean, I did all that I could, but I don’t know. It’s just tough to live with.”
In the gruelling 50 km men’s mass start classic, Antoine Cyr’s final cross-country skiing event of Milano Cortina 2026, the 27-year-old surprised with an 11th-place finish. It was far and away his best ever result in the event.
“I think in the past two weeks, it just goes to show that we’re really capable athletes,” Cyr signalled in an interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Keiran Gorsky. “And I think in the future, we have something to work toward. I think we showed the world that we were able to be right up there with the best.”
We’ll have more on his race tomorrow.
In four-man bobsleigh, the Taylor Austin-piloted sled containing Ottawa products Keaton Bruggeling and Mike Evelyn O’Higgins along with Shaquille Murray-Lawrence finished 11th in the first heat of the day and 22nd in the second to sit 14th. Bruggeling loaded slightly too quickly after Evelyn O’Higgins in the second run as the two collided while jumping into the sled.
Ottawa’s Jay Dearborn finished in 22nd and then 18th of 27 sleds to sit 19th with brakemen Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson, Luka Stoikos and Mark Zanette.
Ottawa Olympians in action on Feb. 22:
Day 16 Preview: Katherine Stewart-Jones to ski in 2026 Winter Olympic Games marathon finale
Sunday is the day Olympic fans loathe, and even tired sports journalists too, because it’s the final day of competition before the XXV edition of the Winter Olympic Games will officially end.
But they won’t finish without a final fantastic hurrah, and Nakkertok Nordic’s Katherine Stewart-Jones will be right in the middle (or maybe even the front) of the cross-country skiing marathon that traditionally closes out the Winter Olympics.
The 30-year-old second-time Olympian will undertake the women’s 50 km mass start classic, which represents her best chance of leaving a mark on a Games that’s been fairly mediocre for her to date, with a 45th-place showing in the opening skiathlon event and a 47th in the women’s 10 km interval start free.
Stewart-Jones did it her way on the road to Milano Cortina 2026. Despite the absence of the traditional Nordiq Canada off-season training camp in 2025, the racer from Chelsea, QC took it upon herself to organize one camp in Europe and hook onto the Quebec team for an altitude camp in Utah.
Being the only Canadian to pre-qualify for the national cross-country ski team to the 2026 Milano Cortina Games in Italy, she had flexibility in her schedule to approach the apex of her season with a designer plan.
After competing with some success in six 2025-26 World Cup races in Ruka, Finland; Trondheim, Norway; and Davos, Switzerland, Stewart-Jones flew back to Canada in mid-December and made her way to Silver Star Mountain in Vernon, B.C. to join her vacationing family for a Christmas visit plus training.
By doing so, she missed the annual, end-of-the-year FIS Tour de Ski, which she has competed in three times and was 16th and 18th overall respectively in 2025 and 2023. But she determined a break with family would be far more beneficial than remaining in her ski community.
“I was able to decide before the season started what I wanted to do,” Stewart-Jones said in a pre-Games interview with Cleary from a training camp near St. Moritz, Switzerland. “I had qualified for the Olympic team (by meeting the Nordiq Canada criteria before being nominated to the Canadian Olympic Committee). I wanted what was best for me to be fast in February.”
During her time in Western Canada, Stewart-Jones had a relaxing visit with her family for one week, which included light training sessions. She also spent two weeks training in Canmore, AB.
“It’s difficult being on the road for four months,” said Stewart-Jones, referring to the physical and mental challenges. “It’s a big ski world and it’s like being in a bubble. It was nice to train (at Silver Star) and be around people who aren’t thinking skiing.”
The rare December break energized Stewart-Jones. She also felt uplifted after she organized a pair of off-season camps to set her wheels in motion for her Olympic season.
“This season, we didn’t have any national-team training camps. There was no funds. It was up to our own decisions,” explained Stewart-Jones, who organized two camps for herself with the help of $8,000 she received in athlete funding from CAN Fund, a charity with Ottawa roots that has raised millions of dollars in the past quarter century to help Canadian athletes succeed in their sports.
“It was the first year we didn’t have a fall training camp,” she noted. “It was probably not ideal. At the national-team camp, it was good and all organized for you, including transportation. This year (2025), I went to Europe and did everything on my own.”
The distance races are Stewart-Jones’ favourites. Her top result this season on the World Cup circuit came in a 20 km women’s free technique mass start race when she placed 18th.
“My goal is to race as hard as I can and see what happens,” she offered. “I don’t (talk) about results. No matter what … I want to do everything in my power to be at my best. I think then I will be satisfied.
“I’m in really good shape. You can’t fake being fit. But I’m still pushing to be more consistent. I want to be able to put consistent training together and stay healthy.”
You can read this full feature on Stewart-Jones’ path to the Olympics here on OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Around the time Stewart-Jones should be reaching the finish line, CANAM Strength & Conditioning products Jay Dearborn, Keaton Bruggeling and Mike Evelyn O’Higgins will be taking their final runs down the tricky Cortina d’Ampezzo bobsleigh track to close out competition for Ottawa Olympians.
Bruggeling and Evelyn O’Higgins may still be able to chase a top-10 finish, while Dearborn’s first order of business will be to stay inside the top-20 after the third run to qualify for the fourth.
Oh, and you might have heard about a men’s hockey game of some kind taking place Sunday. There are of course Ottawa Senators connections to Team USA with Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson, but just in case you needed extra justification to support local and cheer for Team Canada, then you can get behind Sens staff John Forget, the team’s head equipment manager, and the man in charge of ensuring Sidney Crosby can be in shape for the big game – Domenic Nicoletta, the head athletic therapist.
