Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario won her third World Cup gold medal of the season on Saturday. In the women’s 3000m World Cup in Heerenveen, Netherlands, Weidemann had a winning time of 3:59.759 and was the only speed skater to break the four minute barrier. By placing first in the final World Cup competition of the season, Weidemann collected 120 points, rather than the standard 60 points.
Weidemann reached the podium by 2.37 seconds over fourth place finisher Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, who had a fourth place time of 4:02.134. Antoinette de Jong of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 4:00.035. Natalia Voronina of Russia won the bronze medal with a time of 4:01.339. Weidemann finished second in the World Cup standings in the women’s 3000 metres with 353 points. Sablikova finished first with 357 points.
Ivanie Blondin, of Ottawa, Ontario finished third in the women’s World Cup standings in the women’s 3000 metres with 314 points. By finishing fifth, Blondin also won the women’s World Cup standings in the mass start as she had 548 points. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands was second in the women’s mass start with 492 points.
It was also an outstanding weekend of speed skating for Laurent Dubreuil of Quebec City, Quebec. Dubreuil won three silver medals. Two of them came in separate men’s 500 metre races and the third came in the men’s 1000 metre race on Saturday.
In the men’s 500 metre race on Saturday, Dubreuil had a second place time of 34.416 seconds. He reached the podium by 0.056 seconds over Yuma Murakami of Japan, who had a fourth place time of 34.472. Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan won the gold medal with a time of 34.317 seconds and Joon-Ho Kim of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of 34.418 seconds.
In the men’s 500 metre race on Sunday, Dubreuil had a second place time of 34.304 seconds. He reached the podium by .082 seconds over Viktor Mushtakov of Russia, who had a fourth place time of 34.386 seconds. Shinhama won the gold medal with a Heerenveen track record time of 34.07 seconds. Yamato Matsui of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 34.365 seconds. With the two silver medals in the men’s 500 metres, Dubreuil finished third in the World Cup standings with 420 points. Shinhama led all skaters with 483 points and Mushtakov was second with 433 points.
In the men’s 1000 metre race on Saturday, Dubreuil had a second place time of 1:08.118. He reached the podium by 0.034 seconds over fourth place finisher Mathias Voste of Belgium, who had a fourth place time of 1:08.152. Thomas Krol of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 1:07.858. Kai Verbij of the Netherlands had a third place time of 1:08.132. Dubreuil finished in third place in the World Cup standings in the men’s 1000 metres with 251 points. Krol led with 294 points.
In the men’s 5000 metres on Saturday, Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan won the silver medal with a time of 6:12.83 and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta, won the bronze medal with a time of 6:13.72. Patrick Roest of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 6:11.15. Fish won a medal by 3.55 seconds and Bloemen won a medal by 2.66 seconds over fourth place finisher Danila Semerikov of Russia, who had a fourth place time of 6:16.38. Bloemen won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
Fish and Bloemen finished third and fourth respectively in the World Cup men’s standings for long distances. Fish had 306 points and Bloemen had 292 points. Roest was the World Cup champion with 360 points.
This was the second consecutive successful weekend for Canadian speed skating in Europe. Last weekend in Hamar, Norway, Blondin won the silver medal at the World All Around Speed Skating Championships. The medals for Fish, Bloemen, Dubreuil and Weidemann in the Netherlands will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
