The Current - 100 Days until the Winter Olympics

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

The 2026 Winter Olympics are around the corner. This time the NHL is back, climate change could make snow scarce, and political spats are bound to make the podium. Hockey Night in Canada host and Olympic broadcaster Ron MacLean and Canada's Chef de Mission, Jennifer Heil talk all things Milano Cortina 2026.

This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over-delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights. And you can help us keep climbing.

Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. Fair to say, the nation is gripped by this Blue Jays World Series run. Game 5 is tonight after the Jays evened it up last night to two wins each beating the Dodgers 6 to 2. But after the Blue Jays are done carrying our national sports pride on their backs, we don't have to wait long for another group to take over. The 2026 Winter Olympics are 100 days away, and they have all the makings of a barn burner.

Sportscasting legend Ron McLean will be hosting many events for the CBC, and Jennifer Heil is the Canadian chef de mission for the 26 Olympics. She won gold for Canada in freestyle skiing moguls. Hello to you both. Hello, good morning. Good morning. Hi, Ron. Ron, I want to know what do you love most about the Olympics?

Well, the opening ceremony is the first thing. that strikes me. I remember Diane Jones Conahousky had Jen's job for Sydney in 2000. She was chef de mission. And I said, what was your highlight? And she said, oh, the opening ceremony and there was a guy named Steve Nash, of course, our basketball legend. He wore number

seven for Canada at those games. And he was so inspirational. When they bowed out to France, finally in the quarters, he gave an interview that was spellbinding and we ran it at the tail end of the Olympics along with England and and John Ford Coley, Love is the answer because it is. And for

all the achievements, the universality of that opening ceremony is all coming together. That's for me. Although, I will say, the Selly, when Jen won in Torino is an example, the look in her eyes can't beat that either. Pretty good. Jen, what about you? Well, I've participated in three Olympics, and as a, you know, single athlete, the best part is just being on Team Canada, to be totally honest.

You know, you work so hard and years and you dream of this moment, then you find finally get to put the maple leaf on your back. And, you know, really bonding with the other athletes. I remember, you know, the women's hockey team was so supportive of me. I was competing day one in Torino. And I really felt like they had my back and were cheering me on. And it makes a big difference. And it's those moments that you take with you forever. Well, and we're coming up to a lot of those moments. I think for you, it's so fascinating too, because of course you won gold in Torino in 2006. Now you're heading back to Italy two decades later. How does it feel to be going back as chef de mission? Well, what an honor. I mean, you know, I know every chef de mission that's been

there before. It's actually one of the chef de missions was the reason I put my name forward to to lead this team. And so it's just, it's a huge honor to be at this phase and to really bring the team together and to help alleviate some of that pressure that the athletes are under, I really see my role as, you know, kind of opening the pathway and trying to remove some of those challenges and, and just distractions. Like what? Well, excuse me, you know, every Olympics kind of takes on a flavor of its own and there's often, you know, stories that are challenging. For me, that's my role to be out there in front and let the athletes really focus on on their performance. And then there's so many logistics that go into an Olympic Games. You know,

there's buses that have to arrive on time. There's specific food that needs to be on the plates. And it's really endless those logistics. The Canadian Olympic Committee is one of the best in the world in managing them. They've, you know, been preparing five years for this Olympic Games. But things go wrong. And, you know, when you're under the amount of pressure that the athletes are that can that can make or break a performance so you know I'm I'm as much a member of team Canada with my sleeves rolled up and and supporting when things go awry or you know just trying to help keep the calm yeah it sounds like a different kind of pressure for you this time yeah it's way worse I mean I I don't know how I'm going to survive watching all these performances

who was the one who inspired you who was the chef that inspired you yeah it was Sylvie Bernier and she was actually the chef well when when I won Olympic gold our media attach actually broke her ankle that morning on at the venue and was airlifted out and so we didn't have a media attach so Sylvie stepped up and I remember you know basically winning winning an Olympic gold medals like every positive emotion that you could feel hits you all at once and then your brain stops working and Sylvie was there and she gave me a big hug and a big smile and It just kind of was what I needed in that moment to regroup. And so we've actually been lifelong friends ever since.

Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah, yeah. And so she encouraged me to come forward and to put my name forward for this role. Catherine, I know you want to do the interview. I'm not going to get Ron McLean's way there. Go for it, Ron. And my co-host, I'll let Perdita lead when we do get to the coverage in February. I promise you, Perdita.

But I'm so flask. You get to ask any question, then I get to ask you. question. Yes, that's right. That sounds fair. So first of all, I was just going to mention the history of athletes becoming Chef de Mission. That kind of started after Alberville was my first Winter Olympics in 1992, and we were

kind of fumbling along. Canada didn't win many medals. It's hard to believe because we're a winter sport country. We had seven in Alberville, but it was Bill Warren who decided we need athletes on the mission staff. So for 94 at Lillehammer, they had Lori Graham and Michael Slipchuk, the figure skater, and Diane Jones, Conahousky, they would start to take summer athletes and put them into the winter scene and vice versa

because athletes are athletes, right? And I remember Diane Jones Konahouski was a multi-sport like heptathlon or decathlon. And her big things were, number one, where's the dining hall? This is for the athletes in the village. Where's the dining hall? Where's transportation?

Where are our accommodations vis-a-vis the rowdy countries? So that's my question for Jen. Have you been able to make sure we're away? And who are the rowdy countries? I was going to say, is Jennifer, Jen going to out some of the other countries? Oh, well, it's as obvious as you think. I mean, you've got to be careful of the Aussies, that's for sure.

I imagine the Italians, too, with the advantage here of being on their turf. Yeah, exactly. Okay, listen, Ron, I got to ask you about hockey here. I've got to rest some control back from you. One of the big storylines of these games is NHL players back to playing in the Olympics after 12 years. How are you thinking about this 100 days out? Well, even last night, Connor McDavid scored a gorgeous goal for the Edmonton orders. Honor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks had a hatrick.

So he didn't make the Four Nations roster. He's one of our young guns. That's really been neat to see early in the NHL season, a guy like Mark Scheifley of the Winnipeg Jets stepping up and almost sealing a spot on the team. You can't. It's going to be wide open. There's so many to choose from.

Cole Coffield of the United States scored another overtime winner for the Montreal Canadiens last night. He didn't make the Four Nations U.S. roster. Neither did Kyle Conner get any ice time. So that's what is so exciting is to see, you know, in this embarrassment of riches. who will Canada and the U.S. take over to Milan and Cortina? It's going to be great, and it goes without saying the women's same storyline.

It's always U.S. Canada there, and it's always the most compelling moment of the games, it seems. So I can't wait for hockey. But it won't be just a hockey show, I think. Yeah, well, I do want to ask you quickly about the women because, you know, gold in 2022, but the amount of excitement that's grown around women's hockey in Canada in that time is just incredible. and I wonder what you think the games are going to do to help the PWHL? Well, it's helped itself. That's one of the things.

And as I say, it's almost, you know, Marie-Philippe Poulin has become our version of Paul Henderson or Mario or Wayne Gretzky, whoever you choose, Sidney Crosby. She's just been so clutched through the years. And now she's kind of handed the baton to Sarah Filier, as a youngster from Georgetown, Ontario, who's a super sniper. So the game is great. The matchup is, as I say, it's always must-see. so cannot wait for that.

And, you know, just as you were saying, Jen, about the Canadian women's hockey team inspiring you and kind of showing faith in you at Italy in 2006, I remember Sarah Pauley, the director when she won the Oscar for adapted screenplay for Women Talking, the Miriam Taves novel, she showed her actors all through the filming

of the movie, Women Talking, clips of the soccer team, our national soccer team at the Olympic Games. It said, you know, look at them getting together and sharing moments and not just celebrations, but also commiseration moments. And she said, you know, when an actor has to do a take a hundred times, you need that kind of stamina.

So she would use our Canadian women's teams to inspire the actors. And that's how it goes. Very cool. Jen, I want to ask you about the dynamics of this moment. Obviously, the feelings between Canada and the U.S. are pretty intense right now. And there has been this wave of patriotism we've seen in the country over the last year in particular. From the athletes' perspective, you know, what do you think? it means to them that there is this added level of intensity, particularly when Canadian

athletes are confronting Americans. Yeah, I mean, I think the athletes are saying bring it. You know, this is their trained professionals. There's no greater honor than representing Canada. And, you know, you heard Sidney Crosby say it recently that it's the greatest honor of his life competing at the Olympic Games for Canada. And so, you know, so do you lean into that as an athlete? Like, it's wise to kind of get into that moment, or do you need to try to block some of that? What is ultimately politics on some level out? Yeah, I mean, you know, it depends on the athlete, to be totally honest. But at the end of the day, I mean, the U.S. is often one of our biggest rivals out there. And so, you know, I remember, you know, you do everything you can to get the

Canadian flag, you know, at the top of the flagpole and hearing the, the, the, the, the anthem. And so, yeah, I mean, to some degree, I think you have to block out a little bit of the news. And that really is part of being ready, is making sure you have the energy and the focus to perform. You know, all these athletes, you know, as soon as they lace up their skates or click into their bindings, they're ready to go. But a lot of it is preserving your energy up to that moment. And it definitely can be a distraction. But yeah, I think, you know, it is a motivator. And we saw it in 2010 when, you know, we started winning all of those Olympic gold medals to go on to win the most gold medals of all time. And, you know, a big part of that was national pride and hosting and hosting the games in Canada.

So I don't see it as a distraction. I think it's a motivator. This ascent isn't for everyone. You need grit to climb this high this often. You've got to be an underdog that always over delivers. You've got to be 6,500 hospital staff, 1,000 doctors, all doing so much with so little. You've got to be Scarborough. Defined by our uphill battle and always striving towards new heights.

And you can help us keep climbing. Donate at lovescarbro.cairbo.C.A. Norval Morso is one of the most famous indigenous artists ever. Looking at his paintings, it's easy to see why. Colors are intense. Color as medicine. But look a little closer, and you'll see something else. Fakes.

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telling perspective here. As you think about talking to Canadians about the games, how does this moment of tension fit into that? Well, we saw it at the Four Nations Hockey Tournament. You know, it's funny, Pierre de Cuberton, when he created the modern Olympics, he was against nationalism. He didn't want the medal standings, country versus country. And I'm sort of in line with that thinking, but who can help but be a part of it right now. So it will be clearly a backdrop to that. We won't overstate it. That, I think. You know, again, I'm co-holding. hosting with Perdita Felicia, and I'll let Perdita help lead our sort of storytelling each morning on CBC. But, you know, my thing is athlete-centric.

I always feel, although as an example, when Andre deGrasse anchored our four-by-one relay track goal last year in Paris, that was, of course, echoes of Donovan Bailey and the team doing it in Atlanta in 1996. And in Italy, they have kind of a similar story that took place. They won the relay in their Olympics in 2006 in cross-country skiing. It was a four-by-10 relay cross-country skiing, and they won it in dramatic fashion with a guy named Zoro, Christian Zoroz, Zorzi, rather, won the last leg. Same thing happened for them in Lillehammer in 1994. The Italians were in a position to win.

It was coming into the Berkabiner Stadium. Norwegians were going crazy cowbells, as you can imagine. And Silvio Foner was the Italian anchor. And all of a sudden, Bjorn Dolly, the great. Greatest cross-country skier of all time is anchoring the Norwegian team. He pulls to the left and he's now going to go by him and the crowd's going crazy. But Fauner didn't let him go by. And Italy won that cross-country relay and it made that country swell the way we swall

or were swollen with pride when Donovan and or Andre anchored wins. So those stories are laced with the flag and the emotion, but I think it has to be kept in perspective. We'll try to do that. Jen, I mean, there's always so many incredible stories that come out of the games. But one thing that needs to be considered is the physical conditions. You know, is there going to be enough snow ice for the competitions? How are you thinking about how climate change may fit into what happens? Yeah, I mean, look, as a skier, we traveled the world all year round looking for snow.

So that took us to, you know, some of the highest glaciers in Europe and South America. And I can tell you over my 10-year career and then, you know, post-career, it's shocking that the glaciers have receded so much. And it really is alarming. It is a concern. World Cup venues have had to change locations. Races have been pulled from certain countries at certain times of year because the snow just isn't reliable. So climate change does impact. winter Olympics, certainly. And, you know, there was recently 77 athletes that signed an open

letter to Mark Carney around the importance of taking action and making sure Canada is doing its part. Interesting. Before I let you both go, I do, we've talked a lot about hockey. There's a lot of sports, obviously, at the Olympics. So Ron, I'm going to ask you, what are a couple of other stories or names that you're just really excited to talk to Canadians about in the Olympics? I'll let Jen do the moguls, because that's a big story for us always. But it's interesting. They've just started the Olympic season, really. And the first Grand Prix of figure skating happened in Auxet, France.

And Ami Nakai of Japan, she's 17 years old. She won the women's. She had an incredible triple axle. Right now, Japan has nine women skating internationally and reaching podiums. I don't know how they're going to select their team. But remember that name, 17 years old Ami Nakai. Same thing in speed skating. They had short track speed skating.

Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, tour stops one and two are there. And Rim Jean-June is a 17-year-old. So all these kids, you know, Jen, you were 22 when you won Olympic gold, and that's, you know, a baby. But boy, there's some unbelievably young talents, Rim of Korea, 17-year-old speed skater kind of reminds me of Crosby on a breakaway. So those are two names that jump out, and we've got lots to match, you know, Canadians can match in that. But how about you, Jen? Yeah, I mean, the big stories, I think, are going to be short track speed skating for Team Canada. We just saw them bring 10 medals home at the last World Cup. And so definitely going to

be hearing a lot more about that, as well as the ski cross team. They can often have multiple athletes on the podium. So really excited there. And then when it comes to moguls skiing, for the first time ever, dual moguls is in the Olympics. And of course, I'm a little biased, but I think it's going to be a fan favorite. I mean, think about this. You've got two athletes going head-to-head through bumps with jumps going 30 meters down the slopes. What could go wrong? So, yeah, it's super exciting. And Mick Kingsbury, the greatest, the most winningest freestyle skier of all time now has a chance to go for two Olympic golds. And then we have Maya Schwinghammer, which is an amazing Canadian story who grew up in Saskatchewan and is now one of the world's

best skiers. So lots of exciting stories to come. You said earlier, Jen, that there's a flavor to every games. Ron, do you think it, is it too early to ask you what the flavor of these games feels like it's shaping up to be? Well, our short track speed skaters, Jen mentioned how great they are. They're called Ice Maples. So I think that's kind of a nice theme for the. William Dajunu, he won everything there is to win

in the Crystal Globes last year. One at 1,000, 1 at 1,500, won the overall. Stephen Dubois, Canada, won the 500. Courtney Cerro is a Moncton, New Brunswick native, and that's where we'll have Hockey Day in Canada, the show we do annually. and she won the 1,000s at the world. So we're really strong there.

I like their nickname. It's ice maple. So let's make that the theme. Yeah, maple flavor. I'm here for it. Listen, before I let you both go, I do want to ask these two sports junkies game five the World Series tonight.

Jen, any predictions, encouragement for the Js? I'm predicting we don't all have to stay up as late tonight and we're going to bring home a win. Ron, what about you? That was tough. Everywhere I went walking my dog, Jacks, is the schnauzer. People saw my Blue Jay's cap and said, did you stay up? Yes, I stayed up three in the morning. I think Catherine Treya Savage is on the mound, 22. So back to that

youth theme. He struggled just a smidge in his first start in the world. He's kind of alternating, right? As athletes do, the encore performance is the hardest. So he has this big performance in the ALCS and then kind of a letdown. But kids always rally. And I'm predicting he's going to be lights out tonight and beat Snell and Jays will go up three, two coming home. Ron, I got to ask you. We've got a minute left here. I know you're not an athlete, but do you still get butterflies before the Olympics? Of course. When Shirelli Najak asked me to co-host with Perdita, I was honored because I love Perdita. But I swear I didn't sleep for a month. It's like a sort of Damocles hanging over you that you feel ill-prepared.

Oh, God. You feel ill-prepared. For sure. I mean, you have to just keep plugging away. I had a boss in Red Deer. It's funny. I'll quickly say this. but Peter Loughie, the Premier of Alberta, was at Sarajevo in 84, four years before Calgary. He said, how many athletes do we have from Alberta? And the answer was two. And that's when he seconded Diane Jones-Konahouski and a bunch of other experts to create a high-performance scene. And now Alberta's like Quebec really strong.

But yes, there's, you know, 61 medal events. It's kind of a terrifying prospect to be on top of it. You don't need to know everything. We've got such a research team. But I feel like you must. You know, it moves in a million directions each day. Those 16 days are way tougher than the 63 days of a Stanley Cup playoff run. Well, listen, it's always extraordinary.

Good luck to both of you. The country is certainly going to be watching and good luck to all the Canadian athletes. Thanks for making time. Thanks for having us. Congratulations, I'm being chef. Thank you. Ron McLean is a sports broadcaster who will be part of CBC's Olympic coverage. Jennifer Heil is the chef de mission for Canada's Olympic team and is herself.

an Olympic gold medalist. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.