Team Canada’s Milano Cortina 2026 cross-country skiing team unveiled

CANMORE (December 19, 2025) – Nordiq Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced the roster of Team Canada cross-country skiing athletes nominated to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The athletes are:

Antoine Cyr (Gatineau, Que.)
Jasmine Drolet (Rossland, B.C.)
Rémi Drolet (Rossland, B.C.)
Liliane Gagnon (Shawinigan-Sud, Que.)
Max Hollmann (Thunder Bay, Ont.)
Alison Mackie (Edmonton, Alta.)
Xavier McKeever (Canmore, Alta.)
Sonjaa Schmidt (Whitehorse, Yuk.)
Tom Stephen (Calgary, Alta.)
Katherine Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.)
Amelia Wells (Victoria, B.C.)

The 11 athletes qualified for Team Canada based on meeting the criteria outlined in Nordiq Canada’s Internal Nomination Procedures for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, including strong performances at the Nordiq Canada 2026 Olympic Winter Games Trials, which took place December 14-16 at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in Vernon, British Columbia.

Katherine Stewart-Jones earned priority nomination for the Olympic team by having achieved two top-10 finishes in individual events during the 2024-25 FIS World Cup season. She will make her second Olympic appearance, after having competed at Beijing 2022. Stewart-Jones earned a career-best 4th-place finish in the women’s 20km freestyle on the World Cup circuit last December in Toblach, Italy. She helped her teammates race to a 9th-place finish in the women’s 4×7.5km relay at the 2025 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.

“It’s so exciting,” said Stewart-Jones. “I love racing, and especially when it’s on an even bigger stage. I really do think that pressure is a privilege in a lot of ways, and to get the opportunity to race at the highest level, at the Olympic Games, it’s going to be so exciting.”

Also making his return to the Olympic Winter Games is Antoine Cyr, who had a history-making moment in his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022 when he finished fifth in the men’s team sprint alongside Graham Ritchie for Canada’s best ever Olympic result in the event in classic technique. Cyr bettered that placement the following year at the 2023 FIS World Ski Championships with a fourth-place in free technique. Cyr also contributed to the fifth-place finish that the Canadian men achieved in the 4×7.5km relay at the 2025 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, alongside teammates Xavier McKeever, Max Hollmann, and Olivier Léveillé.

Making his Olympic debut, McKeever will join a family lineage of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Son of Olympians Milaine Thériault and Robin McKeever, and nephew of Canada’s most decorated winter Paralympian, Brian McKeever, the 22-year-old McKeever will race for Team Canada as one of Nordiq Canada’s best young prospects. He contributed to Canada’s silver medal relay team at the 2022 FIS World Junior Championships with Rémi Drolet, Tom Stephen, and Olivier Léveillé, and teamed up with Cyr to finish ninth in the classic team sprint at the 2025 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. McKeever earned his spot on the Canadian Olympic Team after winning the sprint free in the final race at Nordiq Canada’s Olympic Trials in a photo finish.

“My decision to become a skier was created at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games watching my uncle and dad compete and win, so in my career I’ve had so many full circle moments, and this is another one of those full circle moments,” said McKeever. “Getting the chance to represent Canada at the Olympics is incredible, and it’s also so crazy that I’m going to be racing in Italy which is where I watched my mom compete at Turin 2006 when I was two years old. So it’s a pretty surreal moment to be able to race in Italy at the Olympics, 20 years later.”

Five women—Jasmine Drolet, Liliane Gagnon, Alison Mackie, Sonjaa Schmidt and Amelia Wells—will all make their Olympic debuts at Milano Cortina 2026 as part of a young and talented squad. Schmidt made Canadian history when she won the women’s freestyle sprint at the FIS U23 World Ski Championships in 2024. She followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the same event at the Engadin stop of the FIS World Cup circuit in January 2025. Meanwhile, Gagnon also captured a gold medal at the 2024 FIS U23 World Ski Championships, anchoring the 4x5km mixed relay with Hollmann, Jasmine Drolet, and Derek Deuling. Gagnon then won two bronze medals at the 2025 FIS U23 World Ski Championships, in the women’s 10km freestyle and the women’s 20km classic mass start.

Siblings Jasmine and Rémi Drolet will experience an Olympic Winter Games together, after Rémi competed for Team Canada at Beijing 2022. Tom Stephen and Max Hollmann will also make their Olympic debuts, after earning their nominations by winning the men’s 10km classic and men’s 10km free, respectively, at Nordiq Canada’s Olympic Winter Games Trials.

“This is one of the most promising generations of Canadian cross-country skiers we’ve seen in years,” said Beckie Scott, Olympic champion and CEO of Nordiq Canada. “The team is a strong mix of young talent and experienced veterans who can lead the group and set the standard both on and off the snow. We’re incredibly proud of this Olympic team and excited to cheer them on as they represent Canada on the world’s stage. It’s inspiring to watch this group continue to grow, challenge the world’s best, and show what Canadian skiers are capable of.”

Team Canada has won three Olympic cross-country skiing medals, all by women. Beckie Scott won gold in the 5km + 5km pursuit at Salt Lake City 2002. She teamed with Sara Renner to win silver in the women’s classic team sprint at Turin 2006. Also at those Games, Chandra Crawford won gold in the women’s free sprint.

Milano Cortina 2026 will be the first Olympic Winter Games at which the men and women will race the same distances, including the 50km mass start.

Cross-country skiing will take place February 7 to 22, 2026 (Days 1 to 16) at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in the Val di Fiemme region.

“Huge congratulations to the athletes who can now call themselves members of the Canadian Olympic Team,” said Jenn Heil, Team Canada’s Milano Cortina 2026 Chef de Mission. “The tenacity, resilience, and the incredible volume of training required in this sport is nothing short of inspiring. Congratulations on all your hard work, and we can’t wait to cheer you on as you wear the maple leaf with pride in Italy.”

Team Canada’s cross-country skiing team for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games also includes the following alternate athletes, coaches and support staff:

Alternate Athletes
Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Morin Heights, Que.)
Graham Ritchie (Parry Sound, Ont.)

Coaches and Support Staff
Eric de Nys (Vernon, B.C.) – Team Leader
Julia Mehre Ystgaard (Oslo, Norway) – Head Coach
Louis Bouchard (Quebec, Que.) – Coach
Yves Bilodeau (Quebec, Que.) – Wax Technician
Nicola Bonetti (Clusone, Italy) – Wax Technician
Sara Hutter (Laas, Italy) – Wax Technician
Toomas Kollo (Tallinn, Estonia) – Wax Technician
Alain Masson (Whitehorse, Yukon ) – Wax Technician
Magnus Noroy (Levanger, Norway) – Wax Technician
Jodi Perras (North Battleford, Sask.) – Massage Therapist
Thea Schwingshakl (Toblach, Italy) – Wax Technician
Félix-Antoine Vézina (Saint-Ferréol-Les-Neiges) – Wax Technician

Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.

The latest Team Canada Milano Cortina 2026 roster can be found here and the qualification tracker can be found here.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Nathaniel Mah, Marketing and Engagement
Nordiq Canada
C: 403-700-4927 
E:  

Tara MacBournie, Program Manager, Sport Communications
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 647-522-8328
E: