Salmon Arm's Laura Hall takes 13th in Olympic 3000m speed skating

Hall's first of four events

Photo: Anders Tjerk Bartlema/Speed Skating Canada

Laura Hall

Salmon Arm's Laura Hall placed 13th in 3000 metre women's speed skating event Saturday morning, as her teammate Valérie Maltais took home Canada's first medal of the 2026 Olympic Games.

Hall, 22, made her Olympic debut Saturday, racing in the first of four speed skating events.

With a time of 4:06:13, Hall placed 13 out of 20, behind her teammates Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann.

The gold medal went to Italian Francesca Lollobrigida, taking home the host country's first gold of the Games. Maltais secured Canada's first medal of the Games, snagging bronze.

Hall will also be competing in the 1500m, 5000m and the mass start speed skating events.

She's joined at Milano Cortina 2026 by her brother Daniel Hall, who's a member of Canada’s long track speed skating team.

Their father, Michael Hall, also competed in long track speed skating for Canada at Lillehammer 1994.