By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Alison Desmarais aspires to become an Olympian. The Metis Nation of Alberta member competes with the Canadian national NextGen (developmental) team in long track speedskating.She\u2019s in her second season and trains in Calgary. Desmarais was a member of the Canadian national NextGen(developmental) short track squad from 2018 to 2020, but that group trains in Montreal. \u201cI don\u2019t speak French so the move to Montreal was really hard for me. And after a year I just decided I wanted to move back to Calgary,\u2019\u2019 she said. She was halfway through her studies at the University of Calgary, Desmarais explained, so it made sense to move back to western Canada. Desmarais, who is 26, believes she is making giant strides in long track speedskating, which… <\/p>\n
By Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Alison Desmarais aspires to become an Olympian. The Metis Nation of Alberta member competes with the Canadian national NextGen (developmental) team in long track speedskating.She\u2019s in her second season and trains in Calgary. Desmarais was a member of the Canadian national NextGen(developmental) short track squad from 2018 to 2020, but that group trains in Montreal. \u201cI don\u2019t speak French so the move to Montreal was really hard for me. And after a year I just decided I wanted to move back to Calgary,\u2019\u2019 she said. She was halfway through her studies at the University of Calgary, Desmarais explained, so it made sense to move back to western Canada. Desmarais, who is 26, believes she is making giant strides in long track speedskating, which... <\/p>\n