Gaétan Boucher
Canadian speed skater
Gaétan T. Boucher (born May 10, 1958) is a former Canadian speed skating Olympic champion.
Biography
Boucher first trained in ice hockey, the leading sport in Canada but then changed to speed skating after winning a national title in 1972. In 1976 he took part in his first Olympics, finishing sixth in the 1000 m and setting an Olympic record in the process. In 1980 he was second in the same event, after Eric Heiden (who won all the gold medals at that event), collecting one of only two Canadian medals at those Games. He broke his ankle and had a long illness in 1983, but recovered for the 1984 Olympics, where he was the Canadian flag bearer and won three medals, the most medals for a Canadian athlete at one Olympics (since bettered by Cindy Klassen). With his gold medals in the 1000 m and 1500 m events he also became the first Canadian male to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics. He retired shortly after the 1988 Games, where his best result was fifth place in the 1000 m.
A champion at the 1984 World Sprint Championships and winner of six World Championship events from 1981 to 1985, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1983 and promoted to Officer the following year. In 1984 he won the Oscar Mathisen Award, given annually for exemplary speed skating performance, and the Lou Marsh Trophy, given annually to Canada's top athlete and was inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame. The following year was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
“Gaétan Boucher” enters the record as canadian speed skater. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gaétan, Boucher and Canadian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Gaétan Boucher” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Gaétan, Boucher and Canadian provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q494831. VIAF identifies the subject as 317273251. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1972, 1976 and 1000.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gaétan Boucher”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gaétan Boucher primary sources, Gaétan Boucher archive and Gaétan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gaétan Boucher”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gaétan Boucher” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.