By Canadian Press

Denny Morrison gives Olympic silver speedskating medal to teammate Gilmore Junio

Jan 25, 2025 | 1:05 PM

CALGARY — Canadian speedskater Denny Morrison has given his Olympic silver medal to Gilmore Junio.

Junio vacated his spot in the men’s 1,000 metres in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, so Morrison could race it.

Morrison handed over the silver medal to Junio at Calgary’s Olympic Oval on Saturday, where a banner was raised honouring Morrison’s career during World Cup racing there.

Junio introduced Morrison during the ceremony.

Calgary’s Junio is a three-time Olympian who retired after the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

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Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., also won an Olympic bronze medal in the 1,500 metres in Sochi, team pursuit gold in Vancouver in 2010 and team pursuit silver in 2006 in Turin, Italy. He retired in 2020.

Morrison, now a 39-year-old medical student at the University of Alberta, also announced an award and a $2,500 bursary in Junio’s name for best teammate.

Morrison slipped and fell in the 1,000 metres during trials for the 2014 Winter Games and did not qualify for the distance. He’d finished fourth in the world championship the previous year.

After placing 10th in the men’s 500 metres in Sochi, Junio was asked by coaches if he would give up his spot in the 1,000 for Morrison.

Junio obliged, and when Morrison delivered a silver medal, Junio gained folk-hero status back in Canada for his selflessness.

“It was about giving Canada a chance to win a medal,” Junio said in Sochi.

Said Morrison: “I think this solidifies our friendship even more and it’s something I don’t think either one of us will ever forget.”

The two men had developed a standard greeting for each other, which was a high-five with a fist pump they called “The GilMorrison.”

Morrison, a two-time world champion in the 1,500, retired tied with Gaetan Boucher for the most Olympic speedskating medals earned by a Canadian man with four.

Junio, 34, works for a human resources firm in Calgary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2025.

The Canadian Press

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Sochi 2014 Olympians Denny Morrison, left, and Gilmore Junio take part in a Parade of Champions in Calgary, Alta., Friday, June 6, 2014.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

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