NAGANO, JAPAN – Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais stepped onto the podium for the third straight Team Pursuit on the World Cup Speed Skating circuit, capturing the silver medal in Nagano on Sunday. The medal also secured the Canadian team a first-place overall ranking in the World Cup standings for the event.
With a time of 2:57.811 this weekend, the Canadians beat the previous track record at the M-Wave arena but fell just 1.44 seconds short of the mark set in the first pair by the Japanese ladies. The team from Russia rounded out the podium, a distant third at more than six seconds slower than the winning pace.
Blondin and Weidemann, of Ottawa, join Maltais (Saguenay, Que.) as the top ranked team in the World Cup standings, ahead of Russia and the Netherlands, having previously won one gold and one bronze medal this season. The result improves on the Canadian team’s ranking of third from last season.
Earlier on Sunday, Laurent Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.) skated a time of 1:09.116 to earn a career best fourth-place result in the men’s 1000m. His previous high mark in the distance was seventh. Ted-Jan Bloemen (Calgary, Alta.) was also fourth in the men’s 5000m with a time of 6:20.029, his highest finish of this World Cup season to date.
The Canadian long track team resumes international competition at the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Milwaukee, USA from January 31 to February 2, 2020, before returning home to Calgary on February 7-8 for the fifth World Cup of the season.
Other Results to Note
- Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (Sherbrooke, Que.) won the B Division of the men’s 1000m with a time of 1:09.234.
- Jordan Belchos (Toronto, Ont.) earned a top-10 result in the men’s 5000m, clocking in at 6:22.315 to finish eighth.
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