Can Canada's speed skaters stay ahead of Father Time?

On this exact date last year, I sent out a newsletter with the subject line "Are Canada's speed skaters still elite?" Inside, I noted that while the long-track team won an outstanding five medals at the 2022 Olympics and continued to excel at the world championships and World Cups over the next two seasons, things were now trending in the wrong direction.

With the 2026 Winter Games in Italy approaching, Canada's medal counts had fallen off dramatically, and I wondered whether the aging team had another great Olympics in them.

Well, they sure did! Led by the veteran trio of Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann, who upset the world champion Netherlands for their second consecutive gold in the women's team pursuit, Canada once again captured five medals on the Olympic oval. That tied host Italy and the United States for the second-highest total behind the perennially dominant Dutch (13).

Canada's resurgence wasn't due to some unheralded youngsters unexpectedly blossoming. All five medals came from longtime standouts aged 30 or over — mostly way over. Along with that thrilling team pursuit gold by "the Madames," as the three ladies delightfully nicknamed themselves, the 35-year-old Maltais took bronze in both the 1,500m and 3,000m events while Blondin, also 35, grabbed her second consecutive silver in the mass start.

On the men's side, 33-year-old Laurent Dubreuil picked up a bronze in the 500m for his second career Olympic medal. Maltais also got the honour of carrying the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony — a well-deserved tribute after winning her first-ever solo medals in her fifth trip to the Olympics.

These turn-back-the-clock performances were wonderful to watch — and one of the true bright