Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Ontario won two gold medals in the opening World Cup speed skating competition of the 2022-23 season from Stavanger, Norway this past weekend. On Saturday, Blondin won the gold medal in the women’s team pursuit (the same event she won gold in at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing) alongside her Canadian Olympic gold medal winning teammates Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec, and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa. Then on Sunday, Blondin won gold in the women’s mass start.
Canada won six medals overall. On Friday, Connor Howe of Canmore, Alberta won silver in the men’s 1500 metres, and Weidemann won bronze in the women’s 3000 metres. On Saturday, Canadian Olympic silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil of Quebec City, Quebec won silver in the men’s 500 metres, and then won silver again in the men’s 1000 metres on Sunday. Dubreuil won silver in the men’s 1000 metres at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
In the women’s team pursuit, Canada posted a winning time of 3:01.81. The Netherlands won silver with a time of 3:02.29. Japan won bronze with a time of 3:02.90. Canada earned a podium spot by 4.5 seconds over Poland, which was in fourth place with a time of 3:06.31. In the women’s mass start, Blondin beat out silver medalist Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won bronze.
In the men’s 1500 metres, Howe had a time of 1:46.65. Jordan Stolz of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 1:44.89. Zhongyan Ning of China won the bronze medal with a time of 1:46.68. Howe reached the podium by one-tenth of a second over Peder Kongshaug of Norway, who had a fourth place time of 1:46.75. At age 18, Stolz became the youngest speed skater ever to win a World Cup race.
In the women’s 3000 metres, Weidemann had a time of 4:05.46. Ragne Wiklund of Norway won the gold medal with a time of 4:03.11. Schouten won the silver medal with a time of 4:05.01. Weidemann reached the podium by 0.87 seconds over Groenewoud, who had a fourth place time of 4:06.33.
In the men’s 500 metres, Dubreuil had a second place time of 34.75 seconds. Yuma Murakami of Japan won the gold medal with a time of 34.70 seconds. Jun-Ho Kim of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of 35.01 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.27 seconds over Wataru Morishige of Japan, who had a fourth place time of 35.02 seconds.
In the men’s 1000 metres, Dubreuil had a second place time of 1:09.22. Stolz won the gold medal with a time of 1:08.73. Ryota Kojima of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 1:09.31. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.36 seconds over Masaya Yamada of Japan, who had a fourth place time of 1:09.58. The medals for Dubreuil, Weidemann, Maltais, Blondin and Howe in Stavanger, Norway will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina d’ampezzo.
