2026 Olympic Games: Medal hopes continue for Canada in ski jumping, snowboard big air after Maltais win

The second Valérie Maltais and her fellowship realise she’s won Olympic bronzy will make you cry

Valérie Maltais wins 3,000m speed skating bronze for Canada's 1st medal at Milano Cortina 2026

Jack Crawford finishes 9th for Canada's top result in men's Olympic downhill 

Canada's Gallant, Peterman fall to Great Britain for 2nd straight loss in Olympic mixed doubles curling

Italy wins its 1st medals at Milano Cortina 2026 as Franzoni and Paris ski to silver and bronze

Olympic flames are lit during opening ceremony of Milano-Cortina 2026

Canadian athletes enter Olympic venues at opening ceremony festivities

Host nation Italy enters Olympic venues at opening ceremony festivities

Team Canada athletes to watch at Milano Cortina 2026

Jobin is the lone Canadian to advance to the Olympic big air final

Canada's opening Olympic women's hockey game postponed over Finnish players' illness

Consider this your midday Olympic digest. Let's get you up to speed. 

All you need to know is that Canada has stepped onto the podium in the first (official) day of Olympic competitions.

Quebec's Valérie Maltais secured bronze in the women's 3,000-metre long-track speed skating event in Milan. It's Team Canada's first medal of the Winter Games. 

Our medal count currently stands at one. 

The photo says it all. 

We have another opportunity to reach the podium in the women's ski jumping normal hill at 12:45 p.m. ET. Calgary's Abigail Strate is the Canadian to watch. 

Shortly after, the men's snowboard big air final gets underway at 1:30 p.m. ET. Francis Jobin is the lone Canadian to advance to that final, after Mark McMorris suffered a head injury in training earlier this week. 

Then we have the men's figure skating short program at 1:45 p.m. ET. Stephen Gogolev is the one to watch there. And, the ice dance free skate final gets underway at 4:55 p.m. ET. Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who also competed at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, are set to perform.

Other events still to come:

Canada's Nicole Maurer is No. 12 to jump, with Abigail Strate to go No. 19 in this round. 

That said, Peterman and Gallant have come up empty-handed in their last two trips to the worlds.

In 2022, they went 8-1 in group play before losing in the first round of the playoffs to Norway. Last spring in Fredericton, they went 7-2 before getting knocked out right away by Estonia and then losing a ranking game to the United States to finish sixth.

Meet Canada's top mixed doubles curling team

Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant are a married couple from Chestermere and they're gearing up to earn a spot competing for Canada in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Jocelyn Peterman, 32, and Brett Gallant, 35, first got together in 2016 when Gallant asked her to be his partner for the Canadian mixed doubles championship. They were married in 2022 and had a son the following year.

So, chemistry shouldn't be an issue. Nor should a lack of Olympic experience: they both competed in 2022 in Beijing with their four-person teams at the time — Peterman with Jennifer Jones, Gallant with the Brad Gushue rink that won the men's bronze. They also happen to be the last Canadian duo to win a medal at the mixed doubles world championship, taking silver in 2019.

Canadian Francis Jobin dropped in switch in his first run of the men’s big air snowboard final in Livigno on Saturday night. 

The 26-year-old from Lac Beauport, Que., performed a backside double cork 1260, but struggled with the landing. Still, he managed to come out of it on his feet, but it cost him points with the judges. 

He put up a score of 37.25 in his Olympic debut at the Milano-Cortina Games. He’ll now focus on laying down some big tricks in his remaining two runs. 

The big air final is underway in Livigno, with Frank Jobin of Quebec competing. 

Some Canadian fans came hours early to secure prime viewing spots.

Tina, the Olympic mascot, was seen in the crowd earlier, but snubbed some fans. We were told she "was tired" but would be back.

Norway's Anna Odine Stroem took the lead this round, jumping 100 metres and scoring a total of 136.9 points altogether. 

Behind her are Slovenia's Nika Prevc in 2nd, with 135.9 points, and Japan's Nozomi Kvandal in 3rd, with 135.7 points. 

Meanwhile in Milan, Canadian curling mixed doubles team Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant are facing off against Estonia after falling to Great Britain 7-5 this morning. 

Eilers, the first Canadian to jump in the women's normal hill event, did not make it inside the top 30.

She faced some tough setbacks in the two years heading into these games after sustaining some major injuries while landing a jump in 2024, including a complete rupture of the ACL in her right knee and a fractured femur. 

She underwent knee surgery soon after, but then required a second surgery last October to do further clean up.

Eilers, who's making her Olympic debut at these Games, returned to the World Cup this season for the first time in two years after that injury.

The qualifiers are done. Abigail Strate finishes 12th and Nicole Maurer 19th, and both are heading to the final, which takes place shortly.

Mauer's total of 116.3 points is likely to get her a spot in the final, however. 

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