Dubois wins short-track gold, Canada edges Czechia in men’s hockey at Winter Olympics

MILAN — Canada struck gold and bronze in short-track speedskating while surviving a scare in men’s hockey on Day 12 of the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Steven Dubois won the men’s 500 metres, taking the lead from the start and never relinquishing it.

The 28-year-old from Terrebonne, Que., finished in 40.835 seconds, ahead of Dutch brothers Melle van ’t Wout and Jens van ’t Wout, who earned silver and bronze.

“It was the one I was missing. I can’t say it’s never been on my mind, but I never wanted to really give myself hope, or make it an objective, because it’s so hard,” said Dubois.

“It’s the toughest thing you can achieve, in short track, there’s so much happening. It’s difficult to describe it, honestly.”

Montreal’s William Dandjinou, a pre-Games favourite in three individual events, started fourth but was assessed a penalty in the final for a reckless passing attempt and did not medal.

It was Dubois’s second medal in Milan Cortina, following silver in the mixed team relay last week. He now has five Olympic medals, including his first individual gold.

The latest medal pushed Canada’s total to 14 at the Games, including four golds overall, with five of the medals in the total count coming in short track speed skating.

Earlier, the Canadian women’s 3,000-metre relay team of Danaé Blais, Florence Brunelle, Kim Boutin and Courtney Sarault captured bronze.

Canada led for long stretches of the final before slipping to third, finishing in four minutes 4.314 seconds — three-tenths of a second behind gold medallist South Korea. Host Italy took silver.

“It’s really special. We all know that short track is a very intense sport. So coming to the finals, I think we knew we had a really strong team, and we were going to give it (our) all,” said Brunelle.

“How special is it to be called an Olympic medallist representing Canada at the highest stage? So I feel like it’d be a dishonour to not be satisfied with having that medal.”

Sarault picked up her fourth medal of the Games, while Boutin earned the sixth Olympic medal of her career, tying her with Charles Hamelin and Cindy Klassen as Canada’s most decorated Winter Olympians.

In the men’s hockey quarterfinal, Canada erased a late deficit before defeating Czechia in overtime.

Canada had been trailing 3-2 with less than four minutes left in regulation before Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki scored to tie the game and send it to an extra frame.

Then, one minute and 22 seconds into overtime, Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner scored to eliminate the Czechs, who had goals from Ondrej Palat, David Pastrnak and Lukas Sedlak.

“I just saw Mack (Macklin Celebrini) going up the ice with the puck. I was debating on staying high by the blue line or come back and, ultimately, I tried to come back and give him a spot if he wanted to drop it or not,” Marner said

“Obviously, he did.”

Celebrini had a goal and two assists for Canada, while Nathan MacKinnon also scored.

It was not all good news for Canada, however, as captain Sidney Crosby was knocked out of the game in the second period after his leg appeared to buckle during a hit by Radko Gudas.

“That was a big thing coming in, if we lose this game, we didn’t want this to be Sid’s last game of this Olympics,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said. “It was a big motivator for the guys coming out there.”

Canada will play Finland in the semifinals on Friday.

Canada had a couple of chances to add to its medal count in early events, but came up short in freeski aerials and snowboard slopestyle.

Mark McMorris, who had won a bronze medal in each of the three previous Games, finished eighth in men’s slopestyle.

McMorris completed his first run, but only scored 75.50. He then fell in the second jump of his second run and crashed in hits third.

The 32-year-old from Regina was only cleared to compete last Thursday. He crashed in training on Feb. 4 before the big air competition and sustained a concussion, pelvic bone bruising and strained abdominal muscles after being stretchered off the course for a hospital visit.

“I’m feeling pretty beaten up. Mentally and physically,” McMorris said after the event. “But I’m proud of my efforts. I’m really, really, really proud to make it to a fourth Olympics. I know I haven’t left any stone unturned.”

Yiming Su of China won gold, followed by Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa and American Jake Canter.

Cameron Spalding of Havelock, Ont., finished 10th.

Laurie Blouin of Quebec City finished fifth in the delayed women’s snowboard slopestyle final. She crashed on her second run and scored 68.60 on her third. Juliette Pelchat of Whistler, B.C., was ninth in her Olympic debut. Japan’s Mari Fukada won gold.

In women’s freeski aerials, Marion Thénault of Sherbrooke, Que., finished seventh, just missing the super final after leading qualifying.

Rachel Homan improved to 5-3 in women’s curling with an 8-7 extra-end win over Italy’s Stefania Constantini on Wednesday, extending Canada’s winning streak to four games.

Canada faces South Korea (5-3) in its final round-robin game, with the winner likely securing one of the final two semifinal spots. Sweden and Switzerland have already qualified.

On the men’s side, Canada’s Brad Jacobs tuned up for the playoffs with an 8-3 victory over Joël Retornaz of host Italy.

Jacobs and his Calgary-based team of Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert improved to 7-1.

Canada will close out its round-robin schedule on Thursday morning against Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell ahead of the semifinals that evening.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.