Two medals in three days.
It’s been quite the week for Moncton, N.B., speedskater Courtney Sarault at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
It’s been just as special for her family, who is in Italy to watch her every stride on the ice.
“I think we’re kind of in shock a little bit and happy for her, obviously,” said her mother, Rhonda Connors Saulnier. “Each night we’re kind of like, ‘What just happened?’ and we have to watch the replays.”
The short-track speedskater won a bronze medal on Thursday in the women’s 500 metres.
She also helped Canada win silver in the mixed relay on Tuesday.
“We are very proud,” said her father, Yves Sarault. “Of course, we know the hard work that she put behind all this and the lows and the highs that she had to go through in the past. She seems like she’s having fun too this year at these Olympics.”
‘I have full confidence in her’
The 25-year-old Sarault made her Olympic debut at Beijing in 2022 and was the top woman overall during the 2025-26 international short track world tour.
Her older brother, Chris, said the week has been a lifetime experience, but also a little bit chaotic in the best way possible.
He’s not surprised by his little sister’s success so far.
“Not at all, no. I know what she’s capable of and I have full confidence in her and I expect more to be coming,” said Chris. “If she races her race then there’s no one really who can get past her.”
Thursday’s bronze medal marked the first time a Canadian outside of Quebec won an individual medal in short-track speedskating.
“That’s actually unbelievable,” said Rhonda. “It shows a lot about her dedication and it shows a lot about the programs she was involved in. She was with the Codiac Cyclones in Moncton, when she started, and she would travel back and forth to Fredericton for the high performance program there. The programs were phenomenal.”
Derrick MacLeod, the technical director of Speed Skate New Brunswick, started coaching Sarault in Fredericton when she was just 13 years old.
MacLeod said Thursday’s bronze was “a huge accomplishment” for someone from New Brunswick.
‘She’s a trooper’
Courtney’s former coach said she and Rhonda used to drive from Moncton to Fredericton five days a week to train and compete.
“She was way ahead of the stream at her age,” said MacLeod. “She also lived in Moncton, which didn’t have any skaters that were similar speed at that point in time, so her option was coming to Fredericton at first to train.”
Sarault would go on to train and compete in Montreal, where she now lives.
The family has moved around a lot and driven countless kilometres to speedskating events and hockey games for Chris.
Yves himself played in the NHL with several teams before playing in Europe.
He admires his daughter’s discipline.
“We’ve travelled so much and we’ve lived in so many different cities,” said Yves. “It started in Switzerland. We did it in Munich, we did it in Ontario, we did it in New Brunswick most of the time. She’s a trooper.”
The Olympics have been on Courtney’s mind since the 2010 winter games in Vancouver.
When she was just nine years old, she wrote a letter as a class project expressing her desire to one day compete at the highest level.
“I know you need to put a lot of effort in your speed skating and you need to be good,” she wrote.
“I will try my hardest and never give up.”
Rhonda kept the memento.
“We were going through some boxes and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, look at this letter she wrote.’ It was an assignment in class. She had written a letter about wanting to go to the Olympics and that it was hard work and she was willing to do it.”
Sarault started speedskating at age seven
According to Sarault’s Olympic biography, she started speedskating when she was seven years old and was known as the “pink suit girl” because she wore a hot pink suit when she competed.
“She was really so girly. She just liked everything pink,” said Rhonda. “We were in P.E.I. actually at a competition in the early days and they had a custom-made pink suit they were selling and she said, ‘Mom, can you get me that suit, please mom? Please, please,’ so we bought the suit.”
She’ll be wearing red and white again for three more Olympic events.
Sarault and her Fredericton teammate Rikki Doak will be back on the ice for Canada in the 3,000-metre women’s team relay on Saturday.
Friends and supporters in the Greater Moncton area are welcome to a speedskating watch party at CAVOK Brewing in Dieppe, N.B.
MacLeod said another medal for the girl from Moncton is definitely a possibility.
Rhonda, Yves and Chris will all be watching in Milan.
“We feel like we’re racing with her,” said Rhonda.
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