The Canadian team of Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Ontario, Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario, and Canadian Olympic silver medalist Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec, won the gold medal on Saturday in the women’s team pursuit in the first World Cup of the season from Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland. It was one of seven medals won by Canada in a fantastic start to the World Cup speed skating season of 2021-22.
Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais, who won the silver medal in the women’s 3000 metre relay at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, posted a winning time of three minutes, .28 seconds. Japan won the silver with a time of 3:01.516. Netherlands won bronze with a time of 3:02.699. Canada reached the podium by 6.23 seconds over Poland, who finished fourth with a time of 3:06.516.
This was one of two medals for Blondin and Weidemann. Blondin also won silver in the mass start on Sunday. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won gold and Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy won bronze.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 3000 metres, Weidemann won the silver medal with a time of four minutes, 5.255 seconds on Friday. Schouten won the gold medal with a time of 4:04.009. Lollobrigida won bronze with a time of 4:06.528. Weidemann reached the podium by 1.492 seconds over Ragne Wiklund of Norway, who was in fourth place with a time of 4:06.747.
On the men’s side, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta, who won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, won the silver medal in the men’s 5000 metres on Friday, and another silver medal in the men’s team pursuit alongside Jordan Belchos of Toronto, Ontario, and Connor Howe of Canmore, Alberta on Sunday.
In the men’s 5000 metres, Bloemen had a time of six minutes, 20.941 seconds. Nils van der Poel of Sweden won the gold medal with a time of 6:15.562. Patrick Roest of the Netherlands won the bronze medal with a time of 6:21.033. Bloemen reached the podium by .285 seconds over Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, who had a fourth place time of 6:21.226.
In the men’s team pursuit, Canada had a second place time of 3:45.763. The Netherlands won gold with a time of 3:44.567. Japan won bronze with a time of 3:45.817. Canada reached the podium by 2.785 seconds over Norway, who was in fourth place with a time of 3:48.548.
Like Weidemann, Bloemen and Blondin, Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Quebec won multiple medals for Canada on the weekend. However, both of Dubreuil’s medals came in individual events. He placed third in the men’s 500 metres on Friday, and then second in another men’s 500 metres World Cup on Sunday.
In the men’s 500 metre World Cup on Friday, Dubreuil had a time of 34.687 seconds. Tingyu Gao of China won the gold medal with a time of 34.265 seconds. Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 34.546 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.036 seconds over Yuma Murakami of Japan, who had a fourth place time of 34.723 seconds.
In the men’s 500 metre World Cup on Sunday, Dubreuil had a time of 34.734 seconds. Shinhama won the gold medal with a time of 34.699 seconds. Wataru Morishige of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 34.746 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by .087 over Artem Arefyev of Russia who had a time of 34.821 seconds. In the men’s 500 metre World Cup standings, Dubreuil is now in second place with 102 points. Shinhama leads with 114 points. The medals for Dubreuil, Bloemen, Belchos, Howe, Weidemann, Blondin and Maltais will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
