Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Ontario teamed up with fellow Olympic gold medalists Isabelle Weidemann of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec to win the gold medal in the women’s team pursuit at a World Cup speed skating event in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland on Saturday. For Blondin it was one of two medals she won on the weekend. Blondin also won the silver medal in the women’s mass start. Team Canada won a third medal at the speed skating World Cup on the weekend as Canadian Olympic silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil of Quebec City, Quebec won the silver medal in the men’s 500 metres.
In the women’s team pursuit, Canada had a winning time of 3:00.97. The Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 301.74. The United States won the bronze medal with a time of 3:04.01. Canada reached the podium by 6.35 seconds over Japan, which had a fourth place time of 3:07.32. In the World Cup standings, Canada was victorious with 180 points. The Netherlands were in second with 151 points.
In the women’s mass start on Sunday, Marjike Groenewoud of the Netherlands won gold and Mia Kilburg of the United States won bronze. In the women’s mass start World Cup standings, Blondin is second with 355 points. Groenewoud is the leader with 424 points.
In the men’s 500 metres on Saturday, Dubreuil had a time of 34.87 seconds. Wataru Morishige of Japan won the gold medal with a time of 34.78 seconds. Yuma Murakami of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 35.03 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by .16 seconds over Hein Otterspeer of the Netherlands, who was in fourth place with a time of 35.03 seconds. In the World Cup standings, Dubreuil leads with 276 points. Murakami is in second with 234 points.
Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais won gold in the women’s team pursuit 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. The medals for Blondin, Weidemann, Maltais and Dubreuil will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
