Valérie Maltais

Valérie Maltais is a Canadian speed skater, born on 4 July 1990 in Chicoutimi, Québec, who began skating at the age of six at her local rink in Saguenay and became Canadian champion in the 1500 metres in 2009. She won gold in the 3000 metre superfinal and silver overall at the 2012 World Short Track Championships, and won her first Olympic medal with Canada's silver in the 3000 metre relay at the 2014 Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Winter Olympics she won gold in the team pursuit in long track skating, which made her the fourth athlete and first Canadian to win Olympic medals in both short track and long track speed skating, after Eric Flaim, Jorien ter Mors and Ruslan Zakharov. She won further medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, including gold in the team pursuit and a bronze in the 3000 metres.