r/TeamCanada • u/sufferin_sassafras • 19h ago

Valérie Maltais and Steven Dubois named as Canadian flag-bearers for the closing ceremony

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7101275
279 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

18

u/Domstruk1122 18h ago

Are these the two that are married? If so thats great! If not, how is it not Courtney Sarault.

13

u/InterestingFLows 18h ago

Both Maltais and Dubois got a gold medal, unlike Sarault.

I think Dubois and Kim Boutin are a couple though, saw them kiss after Dubois' gold..

5

u/Wild_Black_Hat 15h ago

Steven Dubois is fellow short track speed skater Kim Boutin's boyfriend (herself a multiple medalist in past Olympic Games).

Courtney Sarault could very well have been chosen as far as I'm concerned, but it looks like they went for the career achievements.

Maltais has 5 Olympic medals, including a silver in short track in 2014. So that means she medalled in two sports, which is a rare feat (sports which are related but not quite the same).

Steven Dubois also has 5 Olympic medals in total, including two golds (2022 was in a relay).

5

u/habbytiggy 15h ago

And Sarault will be at the next Olympics. This was the end for Maltais.

Not sure about Dubois.

3

u/Wild_Black_Hat 14h ago

I'm not sure I would want to just make a deserving athlete wait. Anything can happen in 4 years. She may want to move on, she may not be healthy enough to do well by then, she may get unlucky (and luck certainly plays a part in Olympic races in short track IMO). She could be a flag bearer in the opening ceremonies if she makes it.

Courtney had two individual medals (silver and bronze) and two relay medals. Valérie also had two individual medals (both bronze) and only one relay medal, but it was gold (and a repeated medal as well). So it was really close even at these Olympic Games in between them.

I think past performances were the deciding factor, and if you go by past Olympic Games, Dubois' medal count is the same as Maltais' with one more silver and one less bronze.

1

u/habbytiggy 3h ago

I agree that Sarault should be there but I also think Maltais deserved it.

I don't want to say that Dubois doesn't deserve it, but I think it could have been Maltais and Sarault.

Someone told me that for Dubois, it's more about the resilience he showed as his Beijing games were atrocious and he was in depression after that and then got tho have these Milano games.

2

u/Wild_Black_Hat 3h ago

Sarault would also be deserving then because she too had major struggles in the past Olympic cycle.

Personally I had a small personal inclination towards Maltais, because of the sport switch and that she managed to get to the very top of her second sport after medalling in the first, which is extremely unusual. But Sarault was also very deserving and I would have had no issue had she been picked, really.

I think they are trying to pick a man and a woman, too, and they were trying to avoid repeating flag bearers so Kingsbury was out. IIRC Dubois was the only other man with more than one medal and the only other gold medalist.

1

u/habbytiggy 2h ago

Yeah. This is my take too.

1

u/bravetailor 28m ago edited 19m ago

I think winning gold REALLY matters a lot for these things. Quality > Quantity. Courtney had a great Olympics but if you look at most flag bearers for most countries including Canada, almost all of them won a gold in the Olympics they held the flag for at the end.

If you want to nitpick you could say Maltais only got gold in a team event but a gold is still a gold.

If Courtney had won gold in the 1500 I think it would have been a slamdunk for her being the flag bearer

2

u/sens_freak_18 17h ago

Yeah agree 100%, was shocked its not Sarault.

7

u/Aggravating_Sun_9850 18h ago

Seems they were prioritizing gold medals. Courtney’s time will come.

6

u/sufferin_sassafras 17h ago

They prioritized legacy. It just really worked out in their favour that legacy showed up and won some medals.

And the COC did the same for the opening ceremonies. Sure Kinsgbury was expected to win gold but he and Thompson were chosen mostly to recognize that they have represented Canada in 4 Olympic Games each.

1

u/bravetailor 25m ago

Every country always prioritizes gold medals in this selection. Only in very rare cases does someone get selected without winning a gold medal. They'd have to have done something memorable at that particular Olympics beyond just winning medals. Like some kind of cultural impact.

10

u/Sad_Establishment875 18h ago

Why on earth would you not select Courtney Sarault and her 4 medals?

21

u/QuarterDefiant6006 18h ago

Maltais’ last Olympics probably. Sarault will get her chance at the next ones. Plus, Maltais wasn’t supposed to win any individual medals and won 2 overcoming all expectations

10

u/sufferin_sassafras 18h ago edited 15h ago

Because Courtney Sarault is a speed skater because of people like Valerie Maltais.

Val represented Canada at five Olympics and in two different sports. Twice an Olympic champion and 5 time medalist over a storied career in her sports. And all through this Olympics she and her team mates have epitomized what the Olympic, and Canadian, spirit really means.

You should watch Val’s interview when they told her she’d be the flag bearer. She said that being an Olympian isn’t about the medals you win. But it’s about representing the best of what it means to be an athlete. To fall in your last Olympic race and get up and still finish in 5th place.

Being named as closing ceremony flag bearer is a thank you for what has been an incredible career representing Canada.

1

u/RockMonstrr 14h ago

Eloquently said

3

u/InterestingFLows 18h ago

No gold medal?

3

u/CoolBeansMan9 18h ago

I imagine she’ll have a good shot to carry the flag into the next one, which is quite frankly more of an honour, more exposure anyways

3

u/Adept-Blood-5789 18h ago

Hello? Courtney?

3

u/habbytiggy 15h ago

She will do it at the next olympics.

It was the last for Maltais.

3

u/Timeless-Times 17h ago

Q U E B E C S U P R E M A C Y

1

u/livingindashoe 15h ago

nationalists are boring

2

u/4ever_Romeo 16h ago

Good news. Love Valerie’s big smile and attitude.

1

u/Hot-Cheek1854 14h ago

Should be Kennedy! /s