Laurent Dubreuil is back on the Olympic podium after a gritty performance on Saturday.
The Canadian speedskater, who has been way off the pace in World Cup action this season, won bronze in the men's 500 metres on Saturday in Milan.
Dubreuil took the lead with five pairs to go when he posted an Olympic-record time of 34.26 seconds.
But three pairs later, American star and eventual gold medallist Jordan Stolz (33.77 seconds) and silver medallist Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands (33.88 seconds) both beat out Dubreuil.
"It feels incredible," Dubreuil told CBC Olympics. "For four years, I thought I'm too good to not have a medal in the 500 at the Olympics. It was a long road to get here. I've had a hard season (and it's) my first medal, but I managed to keep believing."
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Stolz and de Boo also won gold and silver, respectively, in the men's 1,000 metres. Dubreuil was eighth.
The 33-year-old Dubreuil, from Levis, Que., won silver in the 1,000 metres at the 2022 Olympics and finished fourth in the 500 metres, missing out on bronze by just 0.03 seconds..
But he did not reach the podium in any of this season's 10 World Cup races at 500 metres.
Dubreuil's bronze is Canada's eighth medal of the Olympics — three silver, five bronze.
"I lied down because I thought maybe I would crumble with disappointment or joy, (depending) on what the other skaters would do. I knew Jordan (Stolz) and Jenning (de Boo) would probably beat me," Dubreuil said. "They're the two greatest skaters I've seen in my life, and I'm glad they were the only two good enough to beat me today."
It marks Canada's first Olympic medal in the men's 500 metres since Jeremy Wotherspoon won silver and Kevin Overland took bronze in 1998 in Nagano, Japan.
Dubreuil is an eight-time medallist (three gold, two silver, three bronze) at the World Single Distances Championships.
