Valérie Maltais had determined two conditions to enter the Milan Olympic Games: always have the passion and be a contender for the podium in an individual distance. “When you think about it, three years is a long time…” she assessed with La Presse during the last World Championships in March.

Nine months and three World Cups later, the doubt has completely disappeared. With less than two and a half years to go, the speed skater from La Baie knows that she will make it until 2026. If all goes as planned, she will then participate in her fifth Olympic Games, the second in long track after three short track.

“I’m fixed there! », giggled Valérie Maltais at the end of an interview she did from Poland on Wednesday. “We continue until the end, well yes! »

In February 2026, she will be 35 years old, the current age of Martina Sáblíková, double gold medalist in Vancouver, where the Quebecer experienced her Olympic baptism in 2010. The legendary Czech skater, with 16 world titles to her credit, has won the 5000m at the last World Cup in Stavanger, Norway, on Sunday.

Maltais placed fourth in the same event, the best result of her career over the distance – the longest for women –, which nevertheless scares her “extremely”. To reassure herself, she had spoken with her compatriot Isabelle Weidemann the day before. The Canadian queen of the Beijing Games rushed home to get back on track for the next World Championships in Calgary in February.

“It’s the first time she’s not with me at the World Cup. We sometimes take people a little for granted. She is excellent at this distance and I wanted to get some advice from her. I needed a little pep talk from my queen! »

Ultimate pair with the young Norwegian Ragne Wiklund, reigning world vice-champion, Valérie Maltais had the opportunity to observe the lap times of her competitors. “The girls’ days before me, I wasn’t afraid of them. I showed up to the line thinking, “I can do this.” »

In Wiklund, double gold and silver medalist at the last Worlds by distance, Maltais found herself with a partner whose dynamism at the start and ability to maintain the rhythm until the end she appreciated.

Isabelle Weidemann reminded him of the essentials: “A 5000 m is the same thing as a 3000: the first laps are easy, you put in a little more afterwards, and after that, it’s black out, you grind until the end! »

In fact, Maltais saw double, seeing an “8” instead of a “6” on the tachometer… However, nothing appeared on the ice.

Driven by the energetic encouragement of her coach Gregor Jelonek, she never wavered, keeping pace with Wiklund for the majority of the race, even gaining 0.60s from him on the final 400m loop. The former La Baie F-18 missed bronze by exactly two seconds, but with an effort of just over seven minutes, the medal seems more and more accessible. Seventh in Japan and fifth in Beijing over 3000m, she now occupies equal third place in the cumulative ranking of long distances in the World Cup.

Two days earlier, Maltais won silver in the group start event after a breakaway with Dutchwoman Irene Schouten and American Mia Kilburg-Manganello, first and third respectively. Two weeks earlier, she won bronze in the sprint in Beijing, the first time she rested her blades at the National Olympic Oval since her gold medal in the team pursuit with Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin.

On the eve of the fourth World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland, Maltais now holds the yellow cap of leader in the group start standings, a first for her.

Still driven by “the fire” that propelled her into the Canadian short track speed skating team at the age of 17, Valérie Maltais is more convinced than ever that an individual Olympic podium in Milan is the order of the possible.

“At the same time, the older I get, the more I realize that it’s not the medals that define me. I’m just enjoying every moment I’m living right now. I am fit, motivated to train and I travel the world. I communicate with the entire skating community, with the youngest too. »

She dares to speak of a “happiness of skating”: “It just takes the pressure off me… by putting pressure on. I don’t know if that makes sense! I know I want to perform well, but just by enjoying what I do every day. It makes the task a lot easier. »

Has she ever been this happy in elite sport? “I’m pretty much at my peak right now. I’ve never felt that way on a short track, I can confirm that. »