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MILAN – Laurent Dubreuil sat cross-legged inside the oval at Milano Speed Skating Stadium, arms raised in the air, after what he called the “most stressful minutes” of his life.
The veteran Canadian speedskater had set an Olympic record time in the men’s 500 metres moments earlier, but feared it might not even land him a place on the podium with five pairings still to come. Not in a field packed with young talents redefining the sport.
“I knew there were others who could beat me,” Dubreuil said. “I said to myself, if someone beats me, I might collapse in disappointment, so I wouldn’t fall from high if I was sitting on the floor.”
In the end, he didn’t fall at all.
As the oldest skater in the field of 29, Dubreuil captured bronze for his second career Olympic medal Saturday at the Milan Cortina Games.
The 33-year-old from Lévis, Que., sprinted across the finish line in a short-lived Olympic-record time of 34.26 seconds after overcoming a false start. United States star Jordan Stolz won gold in 33.77, while reigning world champion Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands took silver in 33.88.
It was redemption for Dubreuil, who missed the podium by three-hundredths of a second as a favourite in the same event four years ago at the Beijing Games.
“The first one is always more special because then you can say you’re an Olympic medallist for life, but I’m a sprinter, a 500-metre skater, it’s my event,” said Dubreuil, who won silver in the 1,000 in Beijing. “If I had finished my career without an Olympic medal in the 500 … something would have been incomplete. A part of it would have been missing, and now I have an Olympic medal in the two races.
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The medal surprised many after Dubreuil endured what he describes as a “rough” season, failing to reach the World Cup podium in the 500 despite setting strong training times.
Things were so bad, by his standards, that even his young daughter, Rose, started taking pity on him.
“My daughter is used to seeing me win medals. This year, ‘Oh, that’s still good, Daddy, eighth place!’” the animated Dubreuil said. “Two years ago, she didn’t say that. If I finished fifth place, she would say, ‘Dad, that was really bad.’
“I knew that I could do it, that physically I was my best. I doubted, but I never stopped completely from believing. I just had to get back into the game. It’s a lesson of perseverance to myself, to my children.”
The bronze marks Canada’s eighth medal of these Games (three silver, five bronze) and second in long-track speedskating after Valérie Maltais came third in the women’s 3,000.
Earlier in the Games, the three-time Olympian finished eighth in the men’s 1,000 despite posting a faster time than when he won silver in 2022, losing pace in the second half of the race.
On Saturday, Dubreuil had “no doubt” that he would produce his best-ever race at sea level. He said he could feel it in his legs after setting new training benchmarks over the last six weeks.
He exploded off the start line, pulling ahead of pairing-mate Cooper McLeod of the United States, and kept his split times in the green until the finish.
Dubreuil then cruised around the oval and pointed toward the stands as a sea of orange-clad Dutch fans saluted the record-setting performance.
It didn’t last long, as the phenomenal Stolz, 21, and the 22-year-old De Boo surpassed it three pairings later.
“Somebody told me, ‘Hey man, you have an Olympic record!’” Dubreuil said. “In my mind, I was like, ‘Yeah, not for long probably.’
“The goal was just to skate the best race first, be first after my race, and then hope for the best. Four years ago, I was last pair at the Olympics. I don’t like being last pair because you see all the guys skate fast times, and it’s easy for doubt to creep in. I was fortunate enough, I guess, to have a bad World Cup season, so I was paired earlier.”
Stolz became a two-time gold medallist after winning the 1,000, and has sights set on bringing four home from Milan. De Boo was the silver medallist in both events.
“The other two guys are really unreachable, and I’m just happy to be the best among mortals,” Dubreuil said. “Jordan Stolz is the best skater in history, and Jenning is the second-best sprinter in history. They’re doing absurd times. I’m doing the Olympic record; they put half a second up on me.”
At 33, Dubreuil is still keen to compete in the young man’s game.
“Age is just a number. I still feel good. I’m starting to have back pain from standing for a while here, but I still feel good at my age,” he said. “I don’t think it’s my last medal in my career. I think Olympic, probably, but I think I can come back and improve.
“What excites me is chasing excellence. By persevering, being passionate about something, aiming high, sometimes you can surprise people. Sometimes you think things are impossible, they aren’t.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
