Laura Hall, Laurent Dubreuil and Anders Johnson add second distance to their Olympic schedule after Sunday’s results
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC – An emotional performance from Rose Laliberté-Roy, who earned her first career Olympic berth with a victory 1000m, highlighted the second day of racing at the 2026 Long Track Canada Cup and Olympic Skate-Off.
After falling just short in Saturday’s 500m, Laliberté-Roy (Saint-Étienne, Que.) put down the fastest time in the 1000m on Sunday to clinch one of Canada’s three Olympic spots in the distance and earn her place on the team for Milano-Cortina 2026.
Laliberté-Roy’s time of 1:17.061 helped her narrowly edge out Manitoba’s Alexa Scott (1:17.332) and British Columbia’s Carolina Hiller-Donnelly (1:17.578) to earn the victory, much to the delight of the hometown crowd at the Centre de glace Intact Assurance, which erupted with cheers when the 26-year-old’s name was shown atop the leaderboard after crossing the finish line.
Rose Laliberté-Roy“I feel like I am in a dream! I’ve visualized this moment and this race so many times in my head over the years. It was an ideal scenario today, with all the ingredients in place for me to succeed. I knew that I could do it, but I just had to deliver, and I was able to do that under pressure. I am very, very relieved.” – Rose Laliberté-Roy
Laliberté-Roy joins pre-qualified teammate Béatrice Lamarche (Quebec City, Que.) as 1000m participants in Italy. The third and final Canadian spot in the distance, which is one of the final on the women’s Olympic Matrix, will be filled following the results of tomorrow’s 1500m race.
Meanwhile, the duo of Laurent Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.) and Anders Johnson (Fort Frances, Ont.), who were both already qualified for the Games in the 500m, also punched their respective tickets for the men’s 1000m with their performances on Sunday.
Dubreuil’s gold medal winning time of 1:08.935 was far and away the fastest of the day, while Johnson’s silver medal mark of 1:09.290 was just slightly better than that of Winnipeg’s Tyson Langelaar (1:09.540), who will have one final shot at qualifying his spot on the team in tomorrow’s 1500m.
An Olympic silver medalist in the 1000m at Beijing 2022, the 33-year-old Dubreuil knows he has some work to do if he wants to be in medal contention come February.
Laurent Dubreuil“I’m not exaggerating when I tell you this was one of the most difficult 1000m races of my career. The last lap really hit me hard, and I was in so much pain afterwards. I haven’t raced a 1000m in over a month and a half. In Europe, I made the decision to focus on the 500m to secure my prequalification, and then I got sick during the holidays, so I never had the time to train for this type of effort. But overall, it’s not a terrible time. It wouldn’t win me a medal on the international stage, but it’s not that bad. A bit of practice and a 1000m race at the World Cup in Inzell are things that will help me be better prepared for the Games. Cutting my time down is going to be tough, but it’s not impossible.”
Laura Hall (Calgary, Alta.) was the runaway winner in the women 5000m on Sunday, posting a time of 7:09.614, nearly 15-seconds faster than her closest competitor, to secure the victory. The 22-year-old long distance specialist, who qualified her spot in the women’s 3000m yesterday, will join teammate Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.) as one of only two Canadians who will skate the grueling distance in Italy.
Canada can only bring a maximum of eight women and seven men to Milano-Cortina 2026, and places on the respective Olympic Matrix (see below) are filled in a specific order, which was determined based on international results and rankings from the World Cup season. Despite being on their respective matrices, sprinters Brooklyn McDougall (Calgary, Alta.) and Cédrick Brunet (Gatineau, Que.) must await results from Monday and Tuesday’s races to see if their place on the team will be confirmed.
The Canadian long track speed skating team for Milano-Cortina 2026 will not be made official until later this month, with all nominations made by Speed Skating Canada’s high performance program, in accordance with relevant policies and bulletins, subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee.
Women’s Olympic Matrix
| Rank | Distance | Athlete |
| 1 | 3000-W (1) | Isabelle Weidemann |
| 1 | 5000-W (1) | Isabelle Weidemann |
| 3 | 3000-W (2) | Valerie Maltais |
| 3 | 5000-W (2) | Laura Hall |
| 3 | MS-W (1) | Ivanie Blondin |
| 6 | MS-W (2) | Valerie Maltais |
| 7 | 1000-W (1) | Béatrice Lamarche |
| 8 | 1500-W (1) | Ivanie Blondin |
| 9 | 3000-W (3) | Laura Hall |
| 10 | 500-W (1) | Béatrice Lamarche |
| 10 | 1000-W (2) | Rose Laliberté-Roy |
| 12 | 1500-W (2) | |
| 13 | 500-W (2) | Carolina Hiller-Donnelly |
| 14 | 500-W (3) | Brooklyn McDougall |
| 14 | 1500-W (3) | |
| 16 | 1000-W (3) |
Men’s Olympic Matrix
| Rank | Distance | Athlete |
| 1 | 10000-M (1) | Ted-Jan Bloemen |
| 1 | 5000-M (1) | Ted-Jan Bloemen |
| 3 | MS-M (1) | Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu |
| 4 | MS-M (2) | |
| 5 | 500-M (1) | Laurent Dubreuil |
| 6 | 500-M (2) | Anders Johnson |
| 7 | 1500-M (1) | |
| 8 | 500-M (3) | Cédrick Brunet |
| 8 | 1000-M (1) | Laurent Dubreuil |
| 8 | 1500-M (2) | |
| 11 | 1000-M (2) | Anders Johnson |
Racing at the 2026 Long Track Canada Cup and Olympic Skate-Off continues Monday, where spots in the men’s and women’s 1500m will be decided. Watch the active live on CBC Sports digital platforms and on Speed Skating Canada’s YouTube channel.