From Bonney Lake to the Olympic Podium: Corinne Stoddard Wins Bronze
- The Insider
- 46 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Bonney Lake has an Olympic medalist.
Corinne Stoddard, a Bonney Lake High School alum, captured a bronze medal in the women’s 1500-meter short track event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, a historic breakthrough for Team USA and a proud moment for the local community.
Her finish marked the first Olympic medal by an American woman in short track speedskating in 16 years and the first time a U.S. skater has ever medaled in the Olympic 1500-meter race.
For Bonney Lake, it’s a moment that hits close to home.
A local start to a global journey
Before she became one of the fastest skaters in the world, Stoddard’s journey ran through the South Sound.
A Bonney Lake High School alum, she began skating at a young age, first on roller skates as a child before transitioning to ice speedskating in her early teens. That early start would lay the foundation for a rapid rise through the national ranks.
By her late teens, she had moved to train with the U.S. national team, fully committing to short track speedskating and chasing the Olympic dream.
Rising through the ranks
Stoddard’s progression through the sport was steady and impressive.
She found early success as a world junior champion in inline skating before transitioning fully to short track, where she quickly began stacking international results. By 2018, she had earned a spot on the U.S. Short Track National Team, the beginning of a run that would span multiple Olympic cycles.
Her Olympic debut came in Beijing in 2022, where she gained valuable experience despite suffering a broken nose early in the competition. Instead of slowing her momentum, the setback became part of the foundation that shaped her next chapter.
Building toward a breakthrough
In the years leading into the Milano-Cortina Games, Stoddard emerged as one of the most consistent American skaters on the international stage.
She became a three-time medalist at the 2024 World Short Track Championships and carried strong momentum into the 2025–26 season, collecting multiple medals on the world tour and establishing herself among the sport’s elite.
By the time the Olympics arrived, she wasn’t just competing, she was a legitimate medal contender.
A roller coaster Olympic journey
But the road to the podium wasn’t smooth.
Early in the Games, Stoddard endured a series of heartbreaking falls across multiple events, a stretch she later described as one of the toughest moments of her career. Crashes in early races left her shaken and searching for confidence as her Olympic opportunities dwindled.
With only one individual race remaining, everything came down to the 1500 meters.
The race that changed everything
In the final, Stoddard skated aggressively against a stacked international field, even taking the lead for large portions of the race.
Two Korean skaters surged late, but Stoddard held her position and crossed the line in third, securing bronze and rewriting the story of her Olympics in a single moment.
The finish delivered both personal redemption and history for Team USA, ending a long medal drought in women’s short track.
A teacher remembers the student behind the medal
One of the most meaningful reflections comes from inside a Bonney Lake classroom.
Stoddard’s former teacher, Mrs. Zumhofe, remembers her as more than an elite athlete, she remembers the person behind the podium.
Stoddard, known as “Corie” to friends and classmates, was a student in Zumhofe’s ninth-grade Principles of Leadership class. Even then, the traits that would define her Olympic journey were already showing.
“She was funny, lighthearted, and determined,” Zumhofe said. “She missed more school than most students because of competitive skating, but she always communicated and kept her grades up. She was well liked and had a lot of friends.”
One assignment in the class asked students to define their personal “why.”Stoddard’s answer stuck.
“Her why was to make others laugh, smile, and be happy,” Zumhofe recalled.
Years later, that same resilience showed on the Olympic stage.
After crashing in multiple early races in Milan, Stoddard openly shared her struggles and vowed to regroup. Watching from home, Zumhofe reached out with a message rooted in their old classroom mantra:
“The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”
Moments later, that message became reality.
She triumphed indeed, with an Olympic bronze medal.
A moment Bonney Lake will remember
As news of the medal spread, pride rippled across Washington, and especially through Bonney Lake.
For a community that watched one of its own grow from local student to Olympian, the moment carries lasting meaning. Olympic success can feel distant, but Stoddard’s journey brings the world stage a little closer to home.
Her story now becomes part of Bonney Lake’s sports legacy, a reminder that global dreams can grow from hometown roots.
At just 24 years old, Stoddard’s story is still unfolding. But in Bonney Lake, one thing is already certain:
An Olympic medal now carries a hometown name.