Kim Boutin (@kim.boutin)

Hometown: Sherbrooke, Que.
Sport: Speed skating – short track

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kim Boutin (@kim.boutin)

Speed skater Kim Boutin made a real splash during her Olympic debut during PyeongChang 2018, becoming Canada’s only triple medallist of those games. She started off with two bronze medals in the 500- and 1500-metre events, before gliding to silver at the 1000-metre race. Her impressive feats led to her being Canada’s flag bearer during the close ceremony, and a spot in history: she became just the fourth Canadian athlete (and second woman) to win at least three medals at the same Winter Games, and became just the second woman in the world to medal in all three individual short-track speed skating events in the same Winter Olympics.

Piper Gilles (@pipergilles)

Hometown: Toronto, Ont.
Sport: Figure skating – ice dance

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by pipergilles (@pipergilles)

Piper Gilles is no stranger to the Olympics. She and her longtime ice dance partner, Paul Poirier, made their Olympic debut in PyeongChang, where they finished eighth, and their star has only been rising since. They became Skate Canada International champions in 2019, are two-time Canadian national champions and won bronze at the 2021 ISU World Championships—their first time on the podium after competing at that event eight times.

Brooke D’Hondt (@brookedhondt)

Hometown: Calgary, AB.
Sport: Snowboard – halfpipe

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Brooke D’Hondt (@brookedhondt)

Brooke D’Hondt started snowboarding when she was just five years old, and competing when she was nine. Five years later, she made her Winter X Games debut, where she was originally an alternate who was added to the main event and ended up finishing sixth. Now 16, the Calgarian is ready to take on the Olympics for the very first time.

Cassie Sharpe (@cassiesharpe)

Hometown: Comox, B.C.
Sport: Freestyle skiing – halfpipe

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cassie Sharpe (@cassiesharpe)

Look out for Cassie Sharpe. The freestyle skier amazed in PyeongChang, taking home the gold in women’s halfpipe—Canada’s first-ever medal in the event. She was a dominant competitor even before that, winning her first world cup gold in 2015, and has remained so since. Sharpe had to sit out much of 2021 because of an injury before returning to competition in December, but that doesn’t mean she can—or should—be counted out.

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe (@chloedufourlapointe)

Hometown: Montreal, Que.
Sport: Freestyle skiing – moguls

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe and her sisters—fellow Olympians and sisters Maxime and Justine—are building a winter sports legacy in Canada. The trio became the third set of sisters to compete in the same event (moguls) at the Winter Games in 2014. Chloé, the middle child, made her debut in Vancouver 2010, finishing fifth, then won her first medal, a silver, in Sochi. (Her younger sister, Justine, placed first.) Beijing 2022 marks her fourth Olympic Games.

Justine Dufour-Lapointe (@justinedufourlapointe)

Hometown: Montreal, Que.
Sport: Freestyle skiing – moguls

Speaking of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Justine is back for her third Winter Games this year. The youngest sister made her debut in Sochi, where she won gold (Justine and Chloé became the third set of sisters to win gold and silver at the same winter event that year), and took home the silver medal in PyeongChang. As of 2020, Justine has stood on 49 world cup podiums throughout her career.

Cynthia Appiah (@thecynapps)

Hometown: Toronto, Ont.
Sport: Bobsleigh

Cynthia Appiah started her athletics career in events like shot put and hammer throw while in university, but after graduating decided to pursue bobsleigh fulltime in 2013. She’s been hurtling down narrow tunnels of ice ever since. Appiah started competing across North America two years later, and made her World Cup debut in 2016. She was named an alternate for the PyeongChang Games, and nearly left the sport after missing competition. But she preserved and is set to make her Olympic debut this year.

Kirsten Moore-Towers (@kirsten_mt)

Hometown: St. Catharines, Ont.
Sport: Figure skating – pairs

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kirsten Moore-Towers (@kirsten_mt)

When Kirsten Moore-Towers first started skating as a two-year-old, she wasn’t particularly enthused. But it didn’t take long for the skater to fall in love with the sport. Flashforward some years later, she and her former skating partner Dylan Moscovitch helped propel Canada to a silver-medal win at the first-ever team figure skating event at Sochi 2014. Now paired up with Michael Marinaro, with whom she won a national title in 2019, Moore-Towers is taking to the ice in Beijing for her third games.

Laurie Blouin (@laurieblouin1)

Hometown: Quebec City, Que.
Sport: Snowboard – slopestyle

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Laurie Blouin (@laurieblouin1)

While training in PyeongChang before her event, snowboarder Laurie Blouin took a hard crash. It didn’t matter. She shook it off, faced challenging winds and took home the silver in women’s slopestyle—Canada’s first Olympic medal in the event. Ahead of the 2022 Games, Blouin has proven herself to be a true force: she reached the top of the podium at the 2021 World Championships (Canada’s first title in women’s big-air snowboarding) and recently took home the slopestyle bronze at the 2022 Winter X Games.

Marie-Philip Poulin (@pou29)

Hometown: Beauceville, Que.
Sport: Ice hockey

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Marie-Philip Poulin (@pou29)

Don’t get in Marie-Philip Poulin’s way on the ice. The hockey player is known for her ability to perform under intense pressure. She made her Olympic debut at 18 years old in Vancouver 2010—the youngest member of the gold medal-winning team—and was Canada’s leading scorer in Sochi 2014, during which she scored two goals in the final to win gold against the U.S. Poulin was just as essential to Canada’s silver medal-win in PyeongChang, and scored the gold medal-winning goal in overtime at the 2021 Worlds, giving Canada its first title in that competition in a decade. Beijing marks her fourth Olympic Games, and we’re positive we can expect more of the same exceptional talent.

Sarah Nurse (@nursey16)

Hometown: Hamilton, Ont.
Sport: Ice hockey

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sarah Nurse (@nursey16)

Sarah Nurse comes from a family of athletes. She first dreamed of going to the Olympics while watching the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, when she made her own gold medals to hand out to her family, telling them she’d play there one day. Nurse wasn’t wrong, making her debut as part of the silver medal-winning team in PyeongChang. Also a member of the 2021 Worlds champion team, she’s back for her second Games this year. When not on the ice, she’s a strong and fierce advocate for women’s hockey.

Vanessa James (@vanessa_james_sk8)

Hometown: Montreal, Que.
Sport: Figure skating — pairs

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vanessa James (@vanessa_james_sk8)

Prior to teaming up with figure skater Eric Radford last year, Vanessa James was a three-time Olympian for France. Born in Scarborough, Ont., she and Radford joined forces with the intention of competing in Beijing—and they’ve succeeded. The duo won silver at their first international event. Outside of the competitive circuit, James has also been one of the pros on CBC’s Battle of the Blades.

Madeline Schizas (@maddieschizas)

Hometown: Oakville, Ont.
Sport: Figure skating

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Madeline Schizas (@maddieschizas)

Madeline Schizas made her ISU World Championship debut just last year, and her 13th place finish helped secure Canada a spot at the 2022 Games. The young skater had hoped to get started sooner, but competitions were delayed by the pandemic. No matter, though. Earlier this year, she was crowned the Canadian national champion, and she’s ready to make her first Olympic appearance in Beijing.

Dawn Richardson Wilson (@just_dawn98)

Hometown: Edmonton, AB.
Sport: Bobsleigh

Growing up, Dawn Richardson Wilson practiced sports of all kinds. But when she participated in a recruitment camp, she fell in love with bobsleigh and joined the national team program in 2018. Later that same year, she made her international debut with teammate Kori Hol, and the duo won their first race in January 2019. Beijing 2022 marks her first Olympics, where she’s braking for pilot Cynthia Appiah.

Abigail Strate (@abi.strate)

Hometown: Calgary, AB.
Sport: Ski jumping

When Abigail Strate was a rookie ski jumper, she competed at an Olympic test event for the PyeongChang games. After recording four top-30 finishes in the 2021-22 season—including career bests on both the World Cup and Grand Prix circuits—she’s heading to Beijing for her Olympic debut.

Florence Brunelle (@florencebrunelle)

Hometown: Trois-Rivières, Que.
Sport: Speed skating – short track

Florence Brunelle grew up playing soccer, even competing for Quebec’s provincial team, before deciding to focus on speed skating in 2018. Since then, she’s won multiple medals at international junior competitions—including two bronzes at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games—and made her debut at senior-level competitions last year when she was just 17. Last fall, she won two silver medals in short-track relay events at her first-ever career World Cup.

Natalie Corless (@natalie_corless)

Hometown: Whistler, B.C.
Sport: Luge

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Natalie Corless (@natalie_corless)

When she was 16 years old, Natalie Corless and her friend Caitlin Nash became the first women to compete against men in a World Cup doubles luge race. A few weeks later, the pair competed in the first-ever women’s doubles event at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, taking home the silver medal. She’s since switched her focus to singles racing and joined the World Cup circuit full time last year. Now 18, Beijing marks her first Olympic Games.

Jennifer Jones (@jjonescurl)

Hometown: Winnipeg, MB.
Sport: Curling

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jennifer Jones (@jjonescurl)

Jennifer Jones is a curling legend. One of Canada’s most successful curlers ever, she’s a two-time world champion, six-time national champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Her gold-medal moment came in Sochi 2014, when she and her teammates won 11 straight games and became the first-ever women’s curling team to go undefeated during an Olympic tournament. After missing out on qualifying the 2018 Games, Jones is back for 2022 and still at the top of her game.

More from Society