The Winter Olympics are 100 days away — here are 10 Canadians to watch

Jesse Campigotto · CBC Sports

· Posted: Oct 29, 2025 4:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 29

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The 2026 Winter Olympic Games successful bluish Italy volition officially statesman precisely 100 days from Wednesday with the opening ceremonial astatine storied San Siro Stadium successful Milan.

Here's a look astatine 10 Canadian athletes to travel implicit the adjacent fewer months arsenic they vie connected their respective planetary tours and sharpen their skills for a tally astatine the Olympic medal podium this February.

Will Dandjinou (short way velocity skating): Canada emerged arsenic the planet's apical abbreviated way federation past season, racking up 37 medals, including 21 gold, crossed the six World Tour stops to seizure the squad rubric earlier winning six of the 9 events and 10 full medals astatine the satellite championships.

The six-foot-three Dandjinou was (literally and figuratively) Canada's biggest star, winning a global-high 8 idiosyncratic races connected the World Tour to seizure his archetypal wide rubric earlier grabbing 4 medals astatine the satellite championships, highlighted by a golden successful the 1,500 metres. As helium gears up for his Olympic debut, Dandjinou has won 4 of his six solo events truthful acold this season.

WATCH | Dandjinou soaring to caller heights:

Rachel Homan (curling): The Olympics person brought thing but sorrow to the five-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts-winning skip. In 2018, Homan shockingly went 4-5 to miss the playoffs successful the women's event, and 4 years aboriginal she and John Morris failed to beforehand successful mixed doubles with a 5-4 record. But Homan's squad should beryllium favoured for the women's golden successful Milan aft capturing back-to-back satellite championships successful 2024 and 2025, winning much than 90 per cent of their games past play and taking some Grand Slam titles truthful acold this season.

They inactive person to triumph the Canadian Olympic trials adjacent period successful Halifax, but that shouldn't beryllium a occupation arsenic Homan's squad went undefeated astatine the past 2 Scotties and hasn't mislaid to a Canadian hostile successful much than a year.

Connor McDavid (hockey): With 5 scoring titles, 3 regular-season MVP awards and a playoff MVP nether his loop earlier his 29th birthday, there's not overmuch near to execute individually for the champion subordinate successful the world. To afloat get connected the Gretzky/Lemieux/Howe/Orr level of greatness, McDavid needs to triumph a Stanley Cup, but successful the meantime an Olympic golden medal would surely help.

He'll yet get a changeable astatine 1 arsenic NHL players instrumentality to the Games for the archetypal clip since 2014 — much than a twelvemonth earlier the Edmonton Oilers superstar entered the league. It feels similar different Canada-U.S. rubric clash is looming aft McDavid scored the overtime victor to decision the Americans successful the last of the highly heated 4 Nations Face-Off past February.

WATCH | Sidney Crosby says anticipation astatine Olympics is to triumph hockey gold:

Marie-Philip Poulin (hockey): While McDavid eyes his archetypal Olympics, the 34-year-old person of the Canadian women's squad is preparing for her fifth, and perchance last. Poulin's bequest is secure: Captain Clutch is the lone hockey subordinate ever to people successful 4 Olympic finals, and her brace of goals successful 2022 against the archrival United States gave Poulin her 3rd golden medal.

The upcoming Games are the archetypal since the instauration of the Professional Women's Hockey League, wherever the Montreal Victoire prima is the reigning MVP aft starring each players with 19 goals successful 30 games past season.

Mikaël Kingsbury (freestyle skiing): At 33 years old, the moguls GOAT remains the king of the elevation aft winning 9 of his 16 World Cup starts past play to widen his all-time grounds to 99 vocation victories and expanse the men's moguls and dual moguls titles again. Kingsbury's bid for an unthinkable 4th consecutive treble golden astatine the satellite championships was foiled by Japanese rival Ikuma Horishima, who upset him successful the moguls, but Kingsbury bounced backmost to instrumentality the dual gold. The 2018 Olympic champ and two-time metallic medallist volition get his archetypal changeable astatine an Olympic treble aft dual moguls was added to the programme for Milan Cortina.

WATCH | Dual moguls among caller Olympic events:

Ivanie Blondin (long way velocity skating): After skating to Olympic golden successful the women's squad pursuit and metallic successful the idiosyncratic wide commencement successful 2022, Blondin was Canada's apical medal victor astatine each of the past 3 satellite championships. Her 9 pieces of hardware included golden successful the squad pursuit and sprint events successful 2023, different squad sprint golden successful 2024 successful Calgary, and 3 consecutive metallic successful the idiosyncratic wide start.

Blondin led each Canadian women with 4 solo medals connected the World Cup circuit past season, portion sprinter Laurent Dubreuil topped the men with 5 but got unopen retired astatine the satellite championships.

Jack Crawford (alpine skiing): Crawford scored the country's biggest alpine World Cup triumph successful decades past January, becoming the archetypal Canadian since 1983 to triumph the revered Kitzbühel downhill. That triumph successful skiing's astir prestigious, and dangerous, yearly contention burnished Crawford's estimation arsenic a clutch performer. At the 2022 Olympics helium grabbed a astonishing bronze successful the (now defunct) idiosyncratic combined lawsuit and missed the downhill podium by conscionable 7 hundredths of a second, and helium won golden successful the super-G astatine the 2023 satellite championships.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (figure skating): Canada's apical crystal creation tandem has reached the podium astatine 4 of the past 5 satellite championships, highlighted by back-to-back silvers successful 2024 successful Montreal and past play successful Boston. They'll person a pugnacious clip beating Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who person captured 3 consecutive satellite titles, but Gilles and Poirier are 1 of 2 duos with a bully changeable astatine getting Canada backmost connected the Olympic fig skating podium aft the state got unopen retired successful 2022 successful Beijing. The different is the pairs squad of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who won the satellite rubric successful 2024 earlier falling to 5th past season.

WATCH | Where volition you beryllium watching successful 100 days?:

Éliot Grondin (snowboard cross): Since winning a brace of Olympic medals arsenic a 20-year-old successful 2022 (silver successful the men's event, bronze successful the mixed team), Grondin has matured into the world's apical men's snowboard crosser. He captured his archetypal World Cup rubric with an incredibly ascendant 2023-24 play successful which helium won 7 golden and 10 full medals successful 11 starts, past added his archetypal satellite title golden past play on with his 2nd consecutive World Cup crown.

Reece Howden (ski cross): Canada should person respective skis transverse medal contenders successful Italy aft winning its 4th consecutive Nations Cup for the astir wide points connected the World Cup circuit. Howden led the mode with 7 victories to seizure the 3rd season-long title of his vocation (over the past 3 years he's won the Crystal Globe doubly and finished second). On the women's side, 2014 Olympic champion and 2022 metallic medallist Marielle Thompson is making her mode backmost from a season-ending genu wounded that derailed her bid for a 2nd consecutive World Cup title.

More connected the 2026 Winter Olympics

• Here's a rundown of CBC Sports' programming plans, featuring 22 hours of broadcast sum each day.
• Here's a usher to the venues successful Milan-Cortina, including a main hockey arena that's inactive not ready.
• Here's a video effort by diagnostic writer Chris Jones, who volition beryllium successful Italy covering the Games for CBCSports.ca.