2026 Winner: Cory Duhaime

For 24 years, Duhaime has shown outstanding dedication, determination, and love for sport through Special Olympics BC. He is a multi-sport athlete with SOBC – Delta, competing in alpine skiing, softball, and basketball. His commitment to training and competition has helped him build an exceptional athletic career. 

Duhaime has achieved remarkable results on provincial, national, and world stages. His accomplishments include gold medals in 5-pin bowling at the 2009 Special Olympics BC Games and the 2010 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games, nine consecutive provincial gold medals in alpine skiing, and national alpine skiing medals at the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games.  

Most recently, he represented Special Olympics Team Canada at the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games, where he won three gold medals in alpine skiing. Duhaime also earned a spot on the Special Olympics Team BC 2026 Training Squad as a hardworking basketball team member. 

His steady progression and significant achievements in alpine skiing reflect years of hard work with his coaches and a powerful drive to improve. After earning three bronze medals at the 2012 National Winter Games, Duhaime captured three silver medals four years later, then three gold medals in 2020, helping make his dream of selection to Team Canada come true. In 2024, he added two national gold medals and one silver medal, earning another opportunity to represent Canada on the world stage and going on to shine on the international stage at the 2025 Special Olympics World Games. 

Duhaime’s athletic success is matched by his resilience and positive attitude. He has persevered through injuries sustained in competition, including a broken wrist in 2024 and a broken foot in 2025, as well as major health challenges including cancer and ulcer surgery. Through it all, his nominators say he remains one of the hardest-working athletes at practice, often among the first to arrive and the last to leave, listening carefully to his coaches and always striving to get better. 

Beyond his own achievements, Duhaime is a role model for other athletes. He brings the same big smile to a bronze-medal finish as he does to the top of the podium, and when he wins gold, he raises the hands of the silver and bronze medallists with him. “They are all winners in his mind,” his nominators say. 

Duhaime has also grown as a leader and ambassador for Special Olympics. He has travelled extensively with Special Olympics Team BC and Team Canada, planned his own training opportunities, and become an excellent public speaker who enjoys supporting fundraising events such as the Law Enforcement Torch Run and Polar Plunge.  

Special Olympics BC is proud to award Duhaime the 2026 Athletic Achievement Award and congratulates all the 2026 award nominees for their dedication, hard work, and achievements.