'Heading for disaster': Canadian Olympic medallist Dubreuil denounces lack of amateur athlete funding

Canadian long track speed skater Laurent Dubreuil is sounding the alarm about the lack of funding for Canadian amateur sports and the consequences it could have on the country's success at the Winter Olympics going forward.

The Quebec native did not hide his bitterness Tuesday, coming off a bronze medal in the 500 metres during the Milan-Cortina Games.

In an interview published Tuesday in the Journal de Quebec and the Journal de Montreal, Dubreuil denounced the much bleaker reality, just two days after the Olympics.

"Things have to change. As long as athletes get good results, it kind of masks the problems," Dubreuil said later in a video conference from Heerenveen, Netherlands, where he'll take part in the world long track speed skating championships from March 5 to 8.

He noted the issue of funding was a small problem in the short-term, but it could become a big one in the long term. While the Milan-Cortina Games wasn't a disaster, he said it wasn't their best either.

"I can't speak for other athletes in other sports, because our federation is one of the best funded, but even though I've been on the national team for 16 years, I've noticed that with each Olympic cycle, there are fewer funds available than in the previous cycle, and it's not because of our results; we won five medals in Italy, the same number as in Beijing [in 2022]," Dubreuil said.

"We have to realize that we're heading straight for disaster if this doesn't change, and that it's not that easy to find solutions," said the speed skater from Levis, Que., just south of Quebec City.

Rather than returning home to see his loved ones and savour his Olympic triumph, Dubreuil chose to go directly to Heerenveen, a decision that allowed him to save on the