TORONTO, ON – The outdoor speed skating oval in Lake Placid, NY, is one of the world’s most famous sports venues, and eight Canadian student-athletes will strive for medals when they hit the ice at James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink in January. 

Speed Skating Canada and U SPORTS announced the eight athletes set for the Games as they look to win Canada’s first FISU long track speed skating medal at the same venue where Gaétan Boucher won silver in the 1000m at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. 

The four-athlete women’s team includes Laura Hall and Anna Bourgeois from the University of Calgary while also featuring Laval University athletes Rose-Anne Grenier and Laurie Cayer. 

At the same time, the two schools send athletes on the men’s side, with U of Calgary skater Frank Roth making his way to the FISU Games, along with Laval’s David La Rue and Hubert Marcotte. Rounding out the men’s team is Thompson Rivers University skater Joshua Telizyn.

The Canadian team was selected based on their results at the 2022 Canadian Long Track Speed Skating Championships, which took place in Quebec City from Oct. 13-16. Now, however, the student-athletes eye the Lake Placid events with the men’s and women’s 500m, 1000m, 1500m, Mass Start and Team Pursuit. At the same time, the women will also take part in the 3000m, as the men skate the 5000m.

La Rue, a native of Montreal, comes into the Lake Placid Games after skating a 1000m race at 1:08.02 last season, one of his top times since reaching his record in the distance at 1:07.71, which he achieved in 2019. Meanwhile, Fort St. John, BC’s Telizyn, set a personal best in 1000 with a 1:09.86 in October while also skating a 4:07.72 in the 3000m.

In 2017-18, La Rue won gold in the mass start at the World Junior Championships.

While Hall, a 2003-born athlete, headlines the women’s team, she has had an exceptional 2022 and will hope to begin 2023 on the right foot on the outdoor ice. The native of Salmon Arm, BC, set personal bests in every distance this season, including a fourth-place finish in the Canadian Championship 5000m only behind Beijing 2022 Olympians Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais, and Isabelle Weidemann, who set the track record at the early season event. 

Leading the team in their search for gold will be former Team Canada speed skating athletes and national program coaches Shannon Rempel and Muncef Ouardi, while physiotherapist Lauren Vickery also supports the group in northern New York. 

Long-track speed skating is an optional sport for the FISU Winter University Games and is included in Lake Placid as it re-enters the university Games stage for the 12th time. The sport debuted in 1968 for men and in 1970 for women.

WOMEN

Laura Hall / University of Calgary 

Rose-Anne Grenier / Laval University 

Anna Bourgeois / University of Calgary

Laurie Cayer / Laval University 

MEN

Frank Roth / University of Calgary 

David La Rue / Laval University

Joshua Telizyn / Thompson Rivers University 

Hubert Marcotte/  Laval University 

STAFF

Coach and Team Leader: Shannon Rempel

Coach: Muncef Ouardi 

Physiotherapist: Lauren Vickery