Speedskater Laurent Dubreuil: “I’m living my career dream which is to skate while having a family”

For Laurent Dubreuil, family is everything.

Whether it’s the Olympic family, his parents - both of whom are Olympians - or the family he started with his wife, the strong unit he has back home is what makes him tick. It always has.

The 29-year-old is also the reigning 500m speedskating world champion, having won the title on 12 February 2021, a year to the day before the 500m competition begins at Beijing 2022.

He is coming off of a stellar World Cup season in the 500m that included eight podium finishes in as many races, winning two golds, two silvers and four bronzes.

However, his biggest sporting achievement came on 10 December 2021. In the penultimate race of the season in Calgary, he beat the Candian 500m record that had been held by Nagano 1998 silver medallist Jeremy Wotherspoon since 2007. His time of 33.77 seconds was the second-best in history, as he went under the iconic 34 second mark for the first time in his career.

Dubreuil knows to what and to whom he owes his success. “The best mental coach or psychologist I’ve ever had is my daughter because she made me realise that being happy is much more important than being good at sports”, he said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com. “I’m never going to prioritise a win or my results over my happiness. Never ever. A happy athlete will be a fast athlete.”

His two-year-old daughter Rose helped him to realise that personal happiness was essential for professional success. However, it’s also true that Dubreuil had values instilled in him by his parents. His father Robert Dubreuil – a short track bronze medallist at the Calgary 1988 Games – is now the Managing Director of the Quebec Speedskating Federation. His mother Ariane Loignon also competed in Calgary, and