Olympians bring message of hope

When Valerie Maltais was 12, a World Cup speed skating race came to nearby Chicoutimi.

Maltais, who was born there but grew up in La Baie, Que., a suburb of Saguenay, attended the event and met the national team, but was a little confused about the entire thing after it was over. It didn’t become her goal: Instead, she just wanted to keep skating and spending time with her buddies.

“I loved the sport at first by passion and I was going to see my friends,” Maltais said. “There wasn’t a big goal of winning or going to the Olympics. For me, it was just another competition. At some point, in the nature of our sport and other sports, the Olympics is the biggest competition, so year after year you have goals and you reach that level where you can be at the Olympics.

“For me, that was my path. It was not like I saw it when I was six.”

Little did she know that five Olympics and five Olympic medals lay in her future.

She and fellow Olympian Anders Johnson visited Brandon on Tuesday as part of the Westman Speed Skating Club winning the grand prize in the Intact Insurance Club Excellence Award, which included a $10,000 grant and the special appearance. That news was announced last October.

“It’s super important,” Johnson said of the visit. “I love giving back to the community, and being able to see the kids’ faces light up and inspire them. My story is that I grew up playing hockey and we moved to a new community, Edmonton, and I got to try speed skating for the first time when I was 17.

“It’s just encouraging them to try new sports and hopefully inspire them to be the next generation of Olympians for us.”

The Brandon-based speed skating club has been around since 1988 and produced one Olympian, Kyle Parrott of Minnedosa, who competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in the men’s 500 metre, 1000 metre and 1500 metre events.

He was guided by another former Olympian, Pat Leech, who is still the club’s head coach. She said there is incredible value in the young skaters having the chance to meet and talk to people who have excelled in the sport.

“They’re such good role models, these two in particular,” Leech said. “They have spoken to the kids and they emphasized how they began. Valerie at the age of seven is exactly in the same stage a lot of these kids are at.

“I think it’s motivation for them to realize it does take a lot of work, it’s not instant success, but they can do it if they really want to.”

The Olympians visited some schools in the afternoon, and then had an hour on the ice with kids at the Sportsplex, with Maltais putting the skaters through some drills while Johnson spent time with youngsters out for a skate on the other side.

Westman club member Zoe Forbes called it an awesome experience to spend some time with Maltais.

“She gives you little tips to think about and new drills and ways to better my technique,” Forbes said. “I learned a lot in that short amount of time.”

After an autograph session, they attended the club’s awards night.

THE VETERAN

Maltais, who trained in Calgary for four years but now lives back in Quebec City, was making her first visit to Brandon, although she has driven by it before on the Trans-Canada Highway.

She was happy to finally stop in.

“I think it’s important,” Maltais said. “I appreciate that the tour is in places where they don’t have access many times to athletes on the national team. It’s good for the kids and good for the sport to make the promotion that we’re people and athletes who came from these small towns and we made our way by having a passion and a goal we wanted to pursue.”

She began her speed skating career at a rink in Saguenay in 1996 after initially trying figure skating, and the now 35-year-old athlete became one of Canada’s most accomplished speed skaters with five Olympic medals.

She represented Canada in short track at Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018, and in long track at Beijing 2022 and Milano-Cortina 2026, becoming the first Canadian to medal in both pursuits.

In February in Italy, she won 1500m bronze, 3000m bronze and repeated as gold medalist in the team pursuit, and was selected as one of Team Canada’s closing ceremonies flag bearers.

During her career — she transitioned from short track to long track after the 2018 Olympics — she has nearly 20 World Championship medals and more than three dozen World Cup medals.

At the recent Winter Olympics, 10 of the 21 medals Canada won were in speed skating, so it has become a high-profile sport in that regard.

She admits it can be tough to keep people’s attention between Olympics, which is a problem for many sports.

“It’s a challenge to make sure people keep watching and following the sport, not just every four years, but every year,” Maltais said. “Every year is an important season. We have six World Cups, we have world championship, and yes, we have the big goal to be at the Olympics, but each year, each month and each cycle and each competition, we have goals that we want to get better.

“That allows us to be ready for the Olympics.”

She noted that attention — and the lack of it — impacts the financial support given to athletes, which isn’t as much of a concern for the older, more established athletes, but can be a challenge for talented youngsters to have enough to live on as they train.

“What will allow athletes and younger generations like here in Brandon is parents first who have time to bring the athletes to the oval, and after that, it’s money,” Maltais said. “If you have a club that allows you to practise the sport for free, and if you have a sport that allows you to have good installations and a safe environment, I think that will keep the kids in the sport. That’s why being here is important.”

They just have to understand it won’t be easy.

She said it is a lifestyle and her full-time job. Her biggest week training on the bike was 28 hours and after she added in time on the ice, in the gym and in physio and recovery, it’s close to 40 hours.

But when you get to the Olympics, it’s an entirely unique experience.

“There is a different energy,” Maltais said. “We as athletes know this is our moment. This is the competition that has more value, just because you know people watch it a lot but also where people will recognize your results.

“In World Cup, you can get a medal or not, and I feel like this result matters to you but not the population. “When you’re at the Games, everyone is cheering for you and wants the result. After five Olympics, I’ve learned to do these Olympics and these races for you.”

She said then she can celebrate with everyone else.

She is planning to race in speed skating for one more year, and then retire with her husband Jordan Belchos, a fellow Olympic speed skater and longtime member of the national team. That means she won’t compete in a sixth Games.

“It’s a really good feeling to feel accomplished, and it’s, ‘You know what? I’m good, this is enough,’” Maltais said. “It’s a lot of energy and a lot of investment doing the Olympics, and five Olympics, I think I’ve given a lot.

“I’m going to turn 36 soon and I’m going to keep going for another season, but after that I’m getting ready for my next challenges. One of them is to start having kids. We’re married and have a house and we’re getting there.”

THE ROOKIE

Johnson, 28, grew up in Fort Frances, Ont., and after playing hockey, switched to speed skating at age 17 after his family moved to Edmonton. He now trains in Calgary.

He skated in his first World Cups during the 2022-23 season and has helped Canada win multiple team sprint medals on the international circuit. He and his teammates Laurent Dubreuil and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu won gold in the team sprint at the 2024 world championships.

Johnson debuted at the Olympics at Milano-Cortina 2026, finishing 16th in the 500m and 22nd in the 1000m as his family looked on.

“I was so grateful,” Johnson said. “I spoke about it today and you’re reliving the moment when you’re chatting with the kids and they’re asking questions. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime feeling and moment when I qualified, and then getting to the race and hearing the gun go off and I’m racing in the Olympics.

“It’s really special and I don’t take it for granted. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity.”

Like Maltais, he said the Games are a completely different experience, in part because he’s sharing it with other Canadians.

“At the World Cup and world championships, we have people watching, but you know when you step on that ice that you have everyone watching,” Johnson said. “You have an entire nation standing behind you and supporting you. What an honour and a privilege to be the one wearing the Maple Leaf and standing on the line.

“Valerie spoke about it, that you need to have your own goals because it is your story, but also there is this aspect that it’s the story of all of us. It’s recognizing that you get the opportunity to be the one to represent your country.”

He’s certainly ready to put into the work to attend a second Games, but even he is a little in awe of his teammate Maltais. Not many athletes go to five Olympics in a row, and by being able to spend time with her, he’s received a glimpse into why she succeeds.

“Now that I’ve got to do the Olympics, I’m just so motivated for the next one and putting the work in,” Johnson said. “I was saying to some friends that I got to compete this time, next time I want to contend.

“I was close but I want to be on the podium, and having skaters like Valerie Maltais, who I’m here with for the visit in Brandon, just seeing her in her fifth Olympics and how dialled in she was in her approach and process and just being able to learn from that and see her go in and accomplish her goals was awesome.”

Johnson, 28, actually has a connection to Brandon. His late grandfather Danny Johnson played with the Wheat Kings during the 1964-54 season when they were in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, skating alongside Bill Fairbairn and Juha Widing.

He later played with the inaugural Vancouver Canucks and retired after serving as captain of the Winnipeg Jets in the 1974-75 season.

In addition, Anders’ father, Robin, was born in the city while Danny was playing here and he has a great-uncle in Neepawa, so it’s not his first trip here.

Anders was happy there is a local speed skating club.

“It’s grassroots, getting the community together and getting kids out and being active and trying new things,” Johnson said. “It’s really great. I wish there was a speed-skating club in my hometown when I grew up. Maybe one day there will be.”

Johnson, who attends Liberty University and has a part-time job, points to the Biblical story of Joseph, who had a dream as a kid and held tight to it. It’s a parable he thinks youngsters should understand as they chase their goals.

“If you read the story, everything goes wrong for him until it’s the time that’s right,” Johnson said. “He never gave up and he kept believing in it and it all came together in an amazing way.

“The message to kids is don’t give up, keep working at it, and if you have a dream, keep those goals in mind, and despite the criticism and what other people might say, it’s going to be awesome.”

pbergson@brandonsun.com