Sports
Speedskaters Valerie Maltais, Steven Dubois named Canada’s closing ceremony flag-bearers
As Milano Cortina 2026 wraps up, Canada will turn to two of its top speedskaters to bear the flag at the closing ceremony.
Valerie Maltais and Steven Dubois have been named as Canada’s flag-bearers for the final march, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Saturday.
Maltais, 35, earned three medals in Italy, including gold in women’s team pursuit speedskating, bronze in women’s 3,000m speedskating, and bronze in women’s 1,500m speedskating.
Dubois, 28, earned short track gold in the men’s 500m event and silver in the short track mixed team relay.
Each has five total Olympic medals over their careers. Maltais, now at her third Games, previously earned team-pursuit gold in 2022 and a short-track silver in 2014, while Milano Cortina 2026 is Dubois’ second Olympics. In 2022, he earned gold in men’s 5,000m short track relay, silver in the 1,500m, and bronze in the team relay-mixed.
In total, 10 of Canada’s 20 medals at the Winter Games were earned in speedskating events.