U of G figure skaters, women’s hockey players hope to skate away with Olympic wins
As the world prepares to watch its greatest athletes compete on the world stage, three University of Guelph students will be among the thousands vying for gold at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Team Canada is sending 207 athletes to compete in 116 events in eight sports and 16 disciplines from Feb. 6-22 in Northern Italy. Of the more than 100 Canadian Olympic rookies are U of G’s Lia Pereira, a pairs figure skater. Olympic veteran Blayre Turnbull returns as a forward for the women’s hockey team.
Representing her home country of Italy, Gryphon varsity goalie Martina Fedel will also hit the ice for her first Olympic Games.
Following that, the Paralympics take place March 6-15 featuring para alpine skiing, para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para ice hockey, para snowboarding and wheelchair curling.
Meet the U of G Olympians:
Martina Fedel
In Italy’s northeast where hockey reigns, Martina Fedel first found herself between the pipes sharing a love of the sport with her brother. The 23-year-old goalie from Trento, Italy knew there would be limited opportunities to play professionally as a woman, so she set her sights on the Olympics early.
This month, Fedel, will watch as her dreams come true, competing for Team Italy as her home country hosts the 2026 Winter Games.
Fedel represented Italy at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships before the path from Trento back to Milan wound its way through Canada, where she played in the OWHL’s U-22 Elite league before becoming a record-setting Gryphon.
Currently a fifth-year student majoring in animal biosciences in the Ontario Agricultural College, with an eye toward the future as a veterinarian, Fedel is a two-time OUA All-Star who led the league in goals against in 2024. That same year, she was the second player in the U of G women’s hockey program to be named OUA Goalie of the Year, was the U of G Women’s Athlete of the Year and was named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian. Fedel has been named a U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian each season she has been a Gryphon.
Women’s Olympic hockey begins Feb. 5 when Team Italy (Group B) will take on Team France. The games will be played at Milano Rho Arena and Milano Santagiulia Arena from Feb. 5-19.
Lia Pereira
Lia Pereira first stepped on the ice at the age of 8. Growing up in Milton, Ont., Pereira pursued women’s singles figure skating, competing internationally at the junior level before becoming one half of a pair alongside Trennt Michaud in 2022.
Together, they have climbed the podium of the Canadian National Skating Championships, first winning bronze in 2023, silver in 2024 and 2025 and most recently, gold in 2026.
The 21-year-old Pereira, who trains with Michaud out of the Milton Skating Club, is a third-year B.Comm. student at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics studying business management part-time.
A three-time World Team member, Pereira and Michaud won their first ISU Championship medal at the Four Continents Championships in 2025.
Their Olympic journey in Italy begins Feb. 6 with the team event, followed by the short program Feb. 15 and the free skate Feb. 16.
Blayre Turnbull
As captain of the Toronto Sceptres, Blayre Turnbull has led her team to the top of the standings twice as one of the team’s three pre-draft PWHL signings.
Prior to the creation of the PWHL, Turnbull, 32, played NCAA hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers before making her CWHL debut with the Calgary Inferno.
Turnbull, who grew up in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, is already a decorated Olympian having secured gold with Team Canada in Beijing in 2022, scoring a total four goals and three assists and winning a silver medal in Pyeongchang in 2018.
In 2025, Turnbull began a master’s in leadership at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, studying part-time while playing for the Sceptres and preparing for Milano Cortina 2026.
Women’s Olympic hockey begins Feb. 5 when Team Canada (Group A) will take on Team Finland. The games will be played at Milano Rho Arena and Milano Santagiulia Arena from Feb. 5-19.