Laurent Dubreuil

Club / Team

Club Patinage de Vitesse de Levis: Canada

Famous relatives

His mother Ariane Loignon represented Canada in both short track and speed skating. She competed in speed skating at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, and was part of the Canadian short track team that won gold in the 3000m relay at the 1986 World Championships in Chamonix, France. His father Robert Dubreuil also represented Canada in both short track and speed skating. He finished 14th in the 500m speed skating event at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, and was part of the Canadian short track team that won gold in the 5000m relay at the 1984 World Championships in Peterborough, England. His brother Daniel has represented Canada in speed skating at junior level, and competed at the world junior championships in 2012, 2013, and 2014, while his brother-in-law Guillaume Bastille won a gold medal with the Canadian short track 5000m relay team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. (SportsDeskOnline, 15 Dec 2020; Athlete, 04 Jan 2015; speedskating.ca, 21 Oct 2012)

Name of coach	Gregor Jelonek [national], CAN; Muncef Ouardi [national]
When and where did you begin this sport?	He first tried the sport at age four in Levis, QC, Canada.

Sporting philosophy / motto

"[Have] fun because first of all, you're faster when you have fun and secondly, winning without having fun is not worth it. What makes me smile every day is my family. To be able to practise my passion while having a family has always been my goal. I'm really happy to be able to do both because I'm not sure what makes me the happiest between both. Every day, I have the feeling that I'm living my career dream which is to skate while having a family." (olympics.com, 11 Feb 2022)

Reason for choosing this sport

"My parents are Olympians in speed skating. They taught me how to skate in our backyard and I loved it. Speed skating is a pure sport. It is human against the clock, and that's what I love the most."

Most influential person in career	His parents. (Athlete, 13 Feb 2023)
Hero / Idol	Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. (Athlete, 13 Feb 2023)
Injuries	He was affected by a knee injury ahead of the 2023/24 season. (journaldequebec.com, 06 Oct 2023) He was forced to withdraw from the 2022 World Sprint Championships in Hamar, Norway, before the start of the second day of competition after testing positive for COVID-19. He had raced on the first day of competition at the event. (noovo.info, 04 Mar 2022) He suffered a lumbar sprain in his back in February 2008 and was out of action until May 2009. The injury has continued to cause him problems since then. (Athlete, 14 Nov 2019, 18 Nov 2018) He sustained two concussions in the 2006/07 season. The injuries persuaded him to take up speed skating instead of short track. (Athlete, 18 Nov 2018, 12 Nov 2017)
Memorable sporting achievement	Winning gold in the 500m at the 2021 World Single Distances Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands. (Athlete, 13 Feb 2023)

www.facebook.com/laurent.dubreuil.524
twitter.com/Dubreuil92

Nicknames	Larry [he finds it is hard for people to pronounce Laurent correctly if they only speak English]. (Athlete, 04 Jan 2015)
Other information	DAUGHTER'S OLYMPIC PREMONITION He failed to win a medal in his preferred event, the 500m, at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Ahead of the 1000m in Beijing, he spoke with his daughter, Rose, who was age two on the eve of his 1000m race in Beijing, and she asked him to finish second because that was how old she was. "I started getting good when I became a dad. I feel like that takes away some pressure because it puts things in perspective. Before, skating was the most important thing in my life. If skating was bad, I felt bad. If skating was good, I felt good about myself. But now even if I have a bad race, I don't care too much, because that's not what's most important to me anymore." (journaldequebec.com, 18 Feb 2022; isu.org, 03 Dec 2021) BACK ISSUES He sustained a lumbar sprain in his back in 2008, which has plagued him throughout his career. He began seeing an improvement in the issue in his mid-twenties after he started working with physical trainer Jonathan Pelletier-Ouellet. "It invigorated me. I had come to a place in my career where I needed to change, to find something new. When Jonathan arrived he brought something new, it was different from what I had done before. I had still had good results before, I was a world medallist in 2015. I was in my mid-twenties and I could have refused to change my approach, but I got on board, I jumped a bit into nothingness. It was gradual rebuild. I started doing squats again, stuff that I didn't think my back was going to be able to take. I have had back problems since I was young. Now I am not in pain at all, I can put on really heavy loads. It starts from that. Most of my good results have come since then. I owe a lot to Jonathan, but I am happy to have dared to do something different." (ici.radio-canada.ca, 13 Oct 2021, 06 Oct 2021; Facebook profile, 03 Sep 2021)
Other sports	He has competed in athletics and table tennis at the Quebec Games in Canada. (speedskating.ca, 12 Feb 2017)
Awards and honours	In 2023, 2022, and 2020 he received the Men's International Individual Sport award at the Athlete's Gala in Quebec, Canada. In 2022 and 2020 he was also named Athlete of the Year at the gala. (galadelathlete.ca, 02 Nov 2023; Gala de l'athlete Facebook page, 06 Nov 2023; journaldequebec.com, 17 Oct 2023) In 2021 and 2022 he was named Long Track Male Athlete of the Year by Speed Skating Canada. In 2015 he shared the award with Denny Morrison. (speedskating.ca, 01 Mar 2022) In 2011 and 2012 he was named Male National Athlete of the Year at the Gala Victoris in Quebec City, QC, Canada. (speedskating.ca, 12 Feb 2017)
Ambitions	To compete at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina. (lesoleil.com, 28 Sep 2022)
Hobbies	Playing golf, relaxing by the pool, spending time with family. (Athlete, 13 Feb 2023)
Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs	"I like to talk to my wife and kids the day before a race." (Athlete, 13 Feb 2023)

Training Regime

He trains for 20 hours a week.