Surlympics

Canada team for junior world championships that starts tomorrow in Germany 
 
https://speedskating.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-Junior-World-Championships-Nomination.pdf#:~:text=o Marek Chomin o Gabriel Charest •,and returning March 1st%2C 2026%2C to Canada.

The Men and Women went 1-0 each today. So both teams still perfect. Hopefully that should in theory avoid relegation.

I love Heil. One of the greatest of all time. And great to see all this talk about our system really needing to change. She’s right it’s not just about funding but about how our sports system is structured and led. We need a plan, we need leaders to drive that change and follow the Australian and New Zealand sport system of putting deep funding into certain sports, not across all 60 national sports organizations that we currently have.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/speed-skating/laurent-dubreuil-funding-crisis-amateur-athletes-canada-9.7104432
 
I'm glad this is being brought up by lots of people right now. As horrible as Canada's loss was on Sunday, a win would have totally masked all of this. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2026/02/24/canadas-olympic-decline-is-a-leadership-problem/

Canadian juniors start the worlds with a combined 3-0 record. Men went 1-0 with a win over Japan, and the women also beat Japan and Turkey

I’d definitely add figure skating to the mix. Beyond Gogolev, we have incredible depth coming up. Lia Cho (13) is arguably the best young female skater in the world right now, and Quinn Startek (14) is another huge talent that many people are already talking about. Minsol Kwan (17) Camilla Volkova (15) Viktoria Barahatkina (15) and Sandrine Blais (17) are also very promising. Grayson Long (17) is also being talked about a lot and is currently working with Brian Orser.
 
In pairs, Lia Pereira is only 21, which means she still has a long career ahead with Trent if they stay together. But i think Ava Kemp (18) and Yohnatan Elizarov (23) will eventually take over as the next dominant pair.
 
In ice dance, LaLa (25/26) seem poised to step into Piper and Paul’s shoes and potentially even exceed them. They could realistically challenge the young American duo and position themselves strongly heading into the French Alps, even with the French team expected to dominate on home ice. On top of that, we also have a very promising young dance team in Layla Veillon (19) and Alexander Brandys (20). So there is a lot to be excited about for the future of figure skating for Canada as well.

I’d definitely add figure skating to the mix. Beyond Gogolev, we have incredible depth coming up. Lia Cho (13) is arguably the best young female skater in the world right now, and Quinn Startek (14) is another huge talent that many people are already talking about. Minsol Kwan (17) Camilla Volkova (15) Viktoria Barahatkina (15) and Sandrine Blais (17) are also very promising. Grayson Long (17) is also being talked about a lot and is currently working with Brian Orser.
 
In pairs, Lia Pereira is only 21, which means she still has a long career ahead with Trent if they stay together. But i think Ava Kemp (18) and Yohnatan Elizarov (23) will eventually take over as the next dominant pair.
 
In ice dance, LaLa (25/26) seem poised to step into Piper and Paul’s shoes and potentially even exceed them. They could realistically challenge the young American duo and position themselves strongly heading into the French Alps, even with the French team expected to dominate on home ice. On top of that, we also have a very promising young dance team in Layla Veillon (19) and Alexander Brandys (20). So there is a lot to be excited about for the future of figure skating for Canada as well.

I’d definitely add figure skating to the mix. Beyond Gogolev, we have incredible depth coming up. Lia Cho (13) is arguably the best young female skater in the world right now, and Quinn Startek (14) is another huge talent that many people are already talking about. Minsol Kwan (17) Camilla Volkova (15) Viktoria Barahatkina (15) and Sandrine Blais (17) are also very promising. Grayson Long (17) is also being talked about a lot and is currently working with Brian Orser.
 
In pairs, Lia Pereira is only 21, which means she still has a long career ahead with Trent if they stay together. But i think Ava Kemp (18) and Yohnatan Elizarov (23) will eventually take over as the next dominant pair.
 
In ice dance, LaLa (25/26) seem poised to step into Piper and Paul’s shoes and potentially even exceed them. They could realistically challenge the young American duo and position themselves strongly heading into the French Alps, even with the French team expected to dominate on home ice. On top of that, we also have a very promising young dance team in Layla Veillon (19) and Alexander Brandys (20). So there is a lot to be excited about for the future of figure skating for Canada as well.

Love this ! It’s nice seeing the private sector really providing the funding our athletes need that the government is lacking in 

I’d definitely add figure skating to the mix. Beyond Gogolev, we have incredible depth coming up. Lia Cho (13) is arguably the best young female skater in the world right now, and Quinn Startek (14) is another huge talent that many people are already talking about. Minsol Kwan (17) Camilla Volkova (15) Viktoria Barahatkina (15) and Sandrine Blais (17) are also very promising. Grayson Long (17) is also being talked about a lot and is currently working with Brian Orser.
 
In pairs, Lia Pereira is only 21, which means she still has a long career ahead with Trent if they stay together. But i think Ava Kemp (18) and Yohnatan Elizarov (23) will eventually take over as the next dominant pair.
 
In ice dance, LaLa (25/26) seem poised to step into Piper and Paul’s shoes and potentially even exceed them. They could realistically challenge the young American duo and position themselves strongly heading into the French Alps, even with the French team expected to dominate on home ice. On top of that, we also have a very promising young dance team in Layla Veillon (19) and Alexander Brandys (20). So there is a lot to be excited about for the future of figure skating for Canada as well.

Always love to see it!
This problem is for sure not gonna change overnight, but I'm glad we're starting somewhere.

Love this ! It’s nice seeing the private sector really providing the funding our athletes need that the government is lacking in 

As a hockey fan, keep an eye on Connor Bedard, Matthew Schaefer, and Gavin McKenna. And Macklin Celebrini's only going to get better by 2030. Sebastian Cossa also has potential to be an excellent goaltender as well.
 
 

Gold Medalist
and 2026 Canada Club
Prediction Contest Champion!
 
 
@intoronto - 30 points
 

 
 
 

Bronze Medalist(s)
 
A 4 way tie!
 
@CanadaWolvesFC @james89 @Safe Dragonfly @Topicmaster1010 - 26 points
 

Silver Medalist
 
 
@orangeman - 28 points
 

Love this ! It’s nice seeing the private sector really providing the funding our athletes need that the government is lacking in 

Another article: https://archive.is/Ddil7

Yea was able to see on some articles what happened from the post-game presser and yeaaaaaa didn't look like anyone was happy. Even Beijing's didn't seem to have this bad of vibes. Like even after Beijing, David Shoemaker said he was "satisfied" with the performance, and it doesn't look like he said anything along those lines this time.
 
It's nice to see everyone in the country united on an issue though, maybe that'll finally lead to changes. 

It’s kind of a good thing we lost. If we would have won the gold it would have nullified how terrible these Olympics were for Canada. Now they are more likely to actually do something about the state of our winter sports programs. 

https://www.lapresse.ca/sports/chroniques/2026-02-17/milan-cortina/le-canada-gagnera-t-il-20-medailles.php?
 
Interesting article here. (In French)

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/canada-olympic-sports-funding-who-next-medallists-myles-dichter-feb19-9.7097274