Team Canada won six medals at the World Cup speed skating event in Salt Lake City this past weekend. Canadian athletes won two gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals.
In Friday’s action, Team Canada came away with one bronze medal in the women’s 3000 metres. Canadian Olympic gold medalist Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec posted a time of 3:59.71. Joy Beune of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 3:56.86. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 3:58.20. Maltais reached the podium by 1.21 seconds. Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 4:00.92.
in Saturday’s action, Canadian Olympic silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil of Quebec City, Quebec won the silver medal in the men’s 500 metres with a time of 34.05 seconds. Jordan Stolz of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 33.96 seconds. Yuma Murakami of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 34.16 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.13 seconds. Jun-Ho Kim of South Korea was in fourth place with a time of 34.18 seconds. In the World Cup men’s 500 meter standings, Dubreuil is in second place with 372 points. Wataru Morishige of Japan leads with 409 points.
Also on Saturday, Maltais, and Canadian Olympic gold medalists Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario, won the gold medal in the women’s team pursuit with a time of 2:54.07. Japan won the silver medal with a time of 2:55.51. The United States won the bronze medal with a time of 2:57.66. Canada reached the podium by 4.64 seconds over Poland, which had a fourth place time of 2:58.71. In the World Cup standings in the women’s team pursuit, Canada finished in second with 168 points. Japan won with 174 points.
On Sunday, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta won the bronze medal in the men’s 5000 metres with a time of 6:06.88. Patrick Roest of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 6:02.98. Davide Ghiotto of Italy won the silver medal with a time of 6:04.23. Bloemen reached the podium by 0.85 seconds over Sander Eitrem of Norway, who finished in fourth place with a time of 6:07.73.
Also on Sunday in the women’s mass start, Blondin won gold and Maltais won bronze. Schiuten won silver. In the World Cup mass start standings, Maltais leads with 231 points and Blondin is second with 228 points.
Weidemann, Maltais and Blondin won gold in the women’s mass start at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Dubreuil won silver in the men’s 1000 metres at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, and Bloemen won gold in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The medals this past weekend for Blondin, Maltais, Weidemann, Bloemen and Dubreuil will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
