The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC to 394 AD. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the edition that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After this edition, the next one was to be held in 1998 when the 4-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
Christa Luding-Rothenburger is a former speed skater and track cyclist. She was born in Weißwasser, East Germany. Luding is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, and the first female to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Games. She is the only athlete to win Winter and Summer Olympic medals in the same year (1988), a feat that is no longer possible due to the staggering of the Winter and Summer Olympic years. In speed skating, she is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, while she is an Olympic silver medallist in cycling.
Cindy Klassen, is a Canadian retired long track speed skater. She is a six-time medallist having achieved one gold, two silver, three bronze at the Winter Olympics.
Canada competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games.
Canada competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, with a team of 196 athletes and 220 support staff.
Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games, and has won at least one medal each time. By total medals, the country's best performance was in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games where Canadian athletes won 29 medals. Canada set a new record for most gold medals won by a country in a single Winter Olympics with 14 at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. This achievement surpassed the previous record of 13 gold medals held by the Soviet Union (1976) and Norway (2002). Both Germany and Norway matched the record total of 14 gold medals in Pyeongchang in 2018. This record has since been surpassed by Norway with 16 at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She is also the 2011 sprint champion, 2012 1500 metres world champion, three-time world champion for 1000 metres, and three-time world champion for team pursuit. On 4 June 2015 she announced her retirement.
Martina Sáblíková is a Czech speed skater, specializing in long track speed skating. She is an Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple European and World allround champion. She became the first Czech to win two Olympic gold medals at one Winter Games in 2010. Sáblíková also competes in inline speed skating and road cycling races as a part of her summer preparation for the skating season. In cycling, she focuses on individual time trial discipline in which Sáblíková holds multiple Czech Republic National Championships titles and belongs to the world's top 15 female time-trialists. Sáblíková is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík.
Yvonne Hijgenaar is a Dutch racing cyclist and former national speed skater.
Emily Rosemond is an Australian short track speed skater, who represented Australia at the 2006 Winter Olympics before changing sports and representing Australia in track cycling. Rosemond was given the Keys to the City of Brisbane in 2006 after her Olympic debut at the age of 19 years.Emily Rosemond made her Olympic debut as a short track speed skater at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. She contested the 1000m and 1500m, finishing 12th and 25th respectively. Rosemond's short track career was interrupted by an ACL rupture, six months before her Olympic Games debut. Rosemond retired from short track speed skating in 2008 after the World Championships, and took up the sport of track cycling.
Valérie Maltais is a Canadian short track speed skater and speed skater. She has won six world championship medals, including finishing second overall in 2012.
Jasmin Duehring is a German-born Canadian cyclist, who currently rides for American amateur team Virginia's Blue Ridge–TWENTY24. Duehring was part of the Canadian team that won bronze medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's team pursuit. She was also part of the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan American Games in the team pursuit.
Canada competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from February 7 to 23, 2014. Canadians competed in every discipline except Nordic combined.
Vincent De Haître is a Canadian dual-sport athlete competing as both a speed skater and track cyclist who has been in sport since 2000. After competing at his second Olympic games in PyeongChang De Haître made the switch back over to track cycling where he has been competing as a member of the Canadian national team since the fall of 2018 in an effort to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Ivanie Blondin is a Canadian speed skater. She primarily skates in the long distances of 3000 m and 5000 m and the mass start event. Blondin won a silver medal in the mass start event at the 2015 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships and a gold medal in the same event at the 2020 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships. She also won the silver medal at the 2020 World Allround Speed Skating Championships. She won a gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Women's team pursuit.
Laura Brown is a Canadian cyclist who competes on the track and road including as a member of the Canadian team pursuit team. As a reserve, Brown was part of the Canadian team that won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics in the women's team pursuit. She was also part of the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan American Games in the team pursuit. She also won the points race at the Manchester round of the 2013–14 UCI Track Cycling World Cup. Brown took up cycling in 2002 after giving up competing in gymnastics due to an ongoing back injury. In October 2014 the UnitedHealthcare Women's Team announced that Brown would be part of their squad for the 2015 season.
Kate O'Brien is a Canadian female track cyclist and former bobsledder. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Isabelle Weidemann is a Canadian speed skater. She is a multiple Olympic medallist, winning gold in the team pursuit, silver in the 5,000 metre, and bronze in the 3,000 metre at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is the third Canadian ever to have won more than two medals at a single Winter Olympic Games following Cindy Klassen and Gaétan Boucher. Weidemann also previously won a silver and bronze medal at the 2021 and 2020 World Single Distance Championships in women's team pursuit.
