Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Ontario won her eighth career World Cup gold medal on Sunday at a World Cup women’s mass start competition in Minsk, Belarus. Blondin, who also won a bronze medal in the women’s 3000 metres on Friday, recorded 180 World Cup points from the women’s mass start competition alone.
Blondin notched 60 World Cup points for winning the women’s mass start semifinal in Minsk and then had 120 points for winning the women’s mass start final. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won the silver medal. Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy won the bronze medal.
There is no doubt that Blondin won her specialty on Sunday. Blondin has become a mass start specialist and will be a medal contender in the discipline at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. She has won three medals (one gold medal and two silver medals) in the women’s mass start at the last five World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships.
Still, the fact that Blondin did not qualify for the Olympic women’s mass start final at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang was a major shocker. Blondin will definitely be looking for redemption in Beijing. The next World Cup speed skating competition is this weekend in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland. Blondin will be competing at a World Cup speed skating event in Calgary February 6-7.
