‘Something special’: Team Canada earns best-ever Olympic result in cross-country skiing relay

The good news just keeps on coming for Team Canada’s cross-country skiers at Milano Cortina 2026.

On Day 9, the team of Xavier McKeever, Antoine Cyr, Rémi Drolet and Tom Stephen finished fifth in the men’s 4×7.5km relay. It’s Canada’s best-ever result in an Olympic cross-country relay, and comes on the heels of other promising results at these Olympic Winter Games.

READ: Cross-country skier Xavier McKeever adds to family legacy with ‘surreal’ Olympic debut

McKeever, a second-generation Olympian, raced the first leg and had Canada in fourth place at the exchange.

“I was super nervous going in today, just because I knew like the weight of the moment and I knew that we had a good team today,” said the 22-year-old.

“So, my goal was to just try and set the tone for the rest of the guys. I really tried and just put my heart and soul out there.”

He handed off to Cyr, a 27-year-old competing in his second Olympic Winter Games. Cyr, alongside Graham Ritchie, finished fifth in the men’s team sprint classic at Beijing 2022—the country’s best-ever Olympic result in that event.

“Xav put me in an amazing spot,” said Cyr, who at times during his leg was running in third place. “We got a good exchange and leading up the first hill going, I knew there were big teams behind us, especially like Finland and France [who won silver].

“I wanted the pace to be hard, and I think I did that. … I would have loved to place the team in a bit of a better spot for the exchange to Rem. But I did my best and I was I was stoked to put the team up there.”

READ: Breakthrough Olympic Games continue for young Canadian cross-country skiers

Drolet, competing in his fourth event of these Olympic Games, would race the third leg. The 25-year-old concedes that his leg is “where it broke apart” but is still satisfied with his performance.

“This whole season, I think the relay was top of mind for where I wanted to perform this year,” he said. “I went out there and gave it absolutely everything I had. I was totally spent at the end and yeah, I’m so proud of all the guys.

“They skied incredible and yeah, I think my leg, I’m fairly happy with it.”

Last up was Stephen, a 23-year-old Olympic newcomer. He’d notched a top-10 finish in the men’s 10km freestyle interval start event just a few days earlier.

But being able to compete and succeed alongside his teammates was a different experience altogether.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Most of the time throughout the whole season we race individually and race for ourselves.

“But it’s really cool today to be able to put the bib on as a team and race, all four of us, for one goal and race for Team Canada. It’s something special.”