The opening ceremonies are imminent, competition has already begun, and thus the 2026 Olympics are underway.
Canada’s drive to own the Olympic podium began yesterday with the first games of mixed doubles curling.
Canada emerged victorious over Czechia 10-5, adding a second win over Norway this morning 6-3 and will play hosts, and reigning Olympic champs, Italy this afternoon.
The Canadian women’s hockey team was scheduled to take to the ice for their first game this afternoon, however that game has been postponed to Feb. 16 due to an outbreak of Norovirus among the Finnish women’s hockey team. Canada will instead begin their tournament on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. Central Time.
Canada’s women are likely to face off against the Americans again in defense of their gold medal earned in 2024. Canada has struggled against the U.S.A. so far this year losing the annual rivalry series four games to none.
Anyone in Canada can view almost every Olympic event on CBC’s streaming platform called Gem, the platform is free for Canadians all you have to do is create a login with an email address and password. Events are also available via TSN and Sportsnet through paid subscriptions, some events will be broadcast on cable TV and on CBC’s traditional TV channels.
For those without a Gem subscription of their own, or who want to take in some Olympic action with fellow sportsfans, the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre (FFPLTC) will be streaming Olympic events at the library throughout the duration of the Olympic games during their regular hours.
Canada heads into the games with hopes to land on the podium in many different disciplines.
Canada should be contenders for medals in all three disciplines of curling, Mixed Doubles, Men’s and Women’s events. Canada is represented by married couple Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant in Mixed Doubles, and Gallant will pull double duty as a member of team Brad Jacobs representing Canada in the Men’s four person game. This is the first time Canada has allowed Mixed Doubles curlers to also participate in the four-person competition. Canada has had mixed results in the three Olympics that Mixed Doubles play has been part of competition. John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes won gold in the discipline in its debut year in 2018, but Morris and Rachel Homan failed to make the playoffs in 2022.
Homan will lead a strong team heading into the Women’s competition this year.
Canada has not won curling gold since Morris and Lawes won the Mixed Doubles title in Korea in 2018.
For Canadians, one of the biggest attractions to this year’s Olympics is sure to be the Men’s Hockey competition, which sees NHL players return for the first time since 2014, when Canada beat Sweden for gold in Sochi, Russia.
Following last year’s Four Nations Cup victory over the U.S.A., Canadian fans are certainly looking for a repeat performance, with their hopes leaning on Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, and Sidney Crosby in what is likely to be his final Olympics.
Canada and the U.S.A. are in different groups for preliminary round play so they won’t face off until later in the competition if at all depending on how things shake out for both teams, however, both teams will be considered contenders going into the competition.
The Canadian men play their first game on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 9:40 a.m Central time against Czechia. Canada will also play preliminary games against Switzerland and France.
In its list of Canada’s top 10 medal contenders, Olympics.com also names short track speed skater William Dandjinou from Sherbrooke, Que. The site calls Dandjinou “perhaps Canada’s best hope for individual gold at Milano Cortina 2026. He won four medals at last year’s Short Track world championships including three gold.
Fort Frances-born speedskater Anders Johnson will also compete in the men’s 1,000 Metres and 500 Metres events. Johnson is the grandson of Fort Frances Sports Hall of Famer Danny Johnson. See yesterday’s edition of the Fort Frances Times for a full story on Johnson.
Reece Howden is a Ski Cross racer who won his third World Cup title in the discipline last season and is at the top of the standings at the circuit’s Olympic break. The native of Chilliwack, B.C. finished ninth in Beijing in 2022.
Another Canadian medal hopeful is Mikael Kingsbury who has medaled in moguls at the games three times and recently recorded his 100th career victory on the World Cup circuit at home in Quebec last month. Kingsbury is also a five-time world champion in dual moguls which makes its Olympic debut this year, the difference being that dual moguls features two racers on the moguls course racing in parallel.
Kingsbury, 33, was named as a flag bearer for Canada at the opening ceremonies, alongside fellow skier Marielle Thompson who won silver in Women’s Ski Cross in Beijing in 2022.
All of Canada’s athletes will be competing to do their best at the top of their sport and bring pride to their country.
The opening ceremonies will be live at 1 p.m. Central time and rebroadcast at 6:30 p.m. on CBC on Friday, Feb. 6.
