With the 2026 Winter Olympics fast approaching, The Varsity has taken a deep dive into U of T’s history to honour former students who are Olympic Champions. Lori Dupuis, Jayna Hefford, Lesley Reddon, Laura Schuler, Vicky Sunohara, and Heather Moyse have all reached the podium at the Winter Olympic Games, winning medals for Team Canada.

Lori Dupuis

Lori Dupuis was the captain of the Varsity Blues Women’s Hockey Team from 1994–1997. During her time with U of T, she studied French and geography, and became the Blues’ all-time top goal scorer at the time, with 58 goals and 78 assists for a total of 136 points. 

Dupuis received back-to-back nominations in 1996 and 1997 as the University of Toronto’s Female Athlete of the Year. She is recognized as a five-time Ontario University Athletics (OUA) all-star and won three world championships in her 10 years with Team Canada. She represented Canada at the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, where she earned silver and gold medals respectively. 

Today, Dupuis is an assistant coach alongside former hockey player Jayna Hefford, a fellow U of T alumna at the Lori Dupuis/Jayna Hefford Hockey School for Girls. She was inducted into the U of T Hall of Fame in 2007. 

Jayna Hefford

Jayna Hefford was a student-athlete at U of T, studying physical education in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education while playing for the Varsity Blues Women’s Hockey Team. 

A seven-time world champion, she is one of three Canadian women ice hockey players to score over 100 goals in international competition, and is one of two players in Canadian women’s ice hockey history to play over 200 international games. She has represented Canada five times in Olympic history at the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Games, earning four gold medals and one silver. 

She was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 and hired full-time as the women’s hockey assistant coach to the Varsity Blues in 2016. She also coaches in the Lori Dupuis/Jayna Hefford Hockey School for Girls. 

Lesley Reddon

Reddon was a goaltender for four years with the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team, completing her undergraduate degree at U of T in business. She won provincial titles in each of her four seasons in the OUA from 1989 to 1993. 

In 1993, she did her master’s at the University of Brunswick in physical education, where she tried out for the men’s hockey team. She made the team and became the first woman goaltender to play at the Atlantic Universities’ Hockey Conference in 1994 and 1995.

She was a chosen goaltender during the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where she played in four games and won a silver medal. She was recognized for her efforts in the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame. 

Laura Schuler

Laura Schuler represented Canada in the 1998 Olympics as a forward in women’s ice hockey, where she helped the team win silver. At U of T, she studied exercise science and played hockey for the Varsity Blues. 

Schuler eventually began coaching after playing hockey for over two decades. She was the head coach for Team Canada in the Canadian National Women’s Hockey team during the 2015–2016 season. Schuler then became head coach for the 2018 Women’s Olympic Hockey team in May 2017, helping Canada win silver in South Korea. Schuler is currently serving as Head Coach of the University of Minnesota Duluth women’s ice hockey team. 

Vicky Sunohara

Vicky Sunohara played for the Varsity Blues Women’s Hockey Team for two years and completed her bachelor’s degree in physical health education. As a Blue, she won two Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship titles, in addition to the rookie of the year award. 

Following her time in Toronto, she played professional ice hockey for 19 years and won three Olympic medals: one silver in Nagano in 1998, and two golds from 2002 in Salt Lake City and in 2006 in Turin. 

Sunohara then made the shift to coaching, becoming head coach of U of T’s Varsity Blues in 2011, a position she still holds. She has helped the Varsity Women’s Hockey Team win multiple provincial and national titles, including the 2024–2025 McCaw Cup. In May 2025, Sunohara was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. 

Heather Moyse

Moyse received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo in 2000, then later earned a master’s degree in occupational therapy at U of T in 2007. 

She has represented Canada internationally across multiple events, including bobsleigh, rugby, and cycling. At the 2010 Vancouver Games, she was the first Canadian woman to win Olympic bobsleigh gold, breaking the start record twice and track record three times. During the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, she won her second gold medal in bobsleigh. 

Several more U of T students and alumni are heading to the 2026 Olympic Games. These athletes include alumni Gabrielle De Serres, who will be representing France for Women’s Ice Hockey; Justine Todd, who will be officiating Women’s Ice Hockey; and Paul Poirier, who will represent Canada in Ice Dance. Current student Luka Stoikos will represent Canada in Bobsled. 

The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place from Friday, February 6, to Sunday, February 22, in Italy. We look forward to cheering on our Blues community!