Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Ontario won two gold medals and three medals overall at a World Cup speed skating competition in Nagano, Japan this past weekend. Blondin won the gold medal in the women’s mass start on Thursday, gold in the women’s 3000 metres on Friday and silver in the women’s team pursuit on Saturday with Heather McLean of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario and Canadian Olympic silver medalist Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec. Maltais won the silver medal in the women’s 3000 metre short track speed skating relay at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Team Canada came away with six medals overall at the World Cup speed skating event in Nagano. Jordan Belchos won the gold medal in the men’s mass start on Thursday, Weidemann won the bronze medal in the women’s 3000 metres on Friday and Belchos, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta, Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Tyson Langelaar of Winnipeg, Manitoba won the bronze medal in the men’s team pursuit on Friday. Bloemen won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
In the women’s mass start, Blondin had a winning time of 8:26.44. Nana Takagi of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 8:26.57. Mia Kilburg-Manganello of the United States won the bronze medal with a time of 8:27.35. Blondin reached the podium by 1.27 seconds over Ayano Sato of Japan, who finished in fourth place with a time of 8:27.71.
Blondin continues to lead the women’s mass start World Cup standings with 468 points. Takagi is second with 356 points.
In the men’s mass start, Belchos had a winning time of 7:53.99. Joey Mantia of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 7:54.67. Bart Swings of Belgium won the bronze medal with a time of 7:54.82. Belchos reached the podium by 0.95 seconds over Andrea Giovannini of Italy. who finished in fourth place with a time of 7:54.94.
Belchos is now seventh in the World Cup men’s mass start standings with 322 points. Mantia leads with 425 points.
In the women’s 3000 metres, Blondin won the gold medal with a Nagano track record time of 4:00.243. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won the silver medal with a time of 4:01.976. Weidemann’s bronze medal time was 4:03.051. Blondin reached the podium by 4.15 seconds over Takagi, who had a fourth place time of 4:04.4. Weidemann reached the podium by 1.35 seconds.
Blondin and Weidemann are second and third respectively in the World Cup women’s 3000 metre standings. Blondin has 202 points and Weidemann has 199 points. Sablikova leads with 211 points.
In the men’s team pursuit, Bloemen, Fish, Belchos and Langelaar had a third place time of 3:44.876. They reached the podium by 0.834 seconds over Italy, who was in fourth place with a time of 3:45.71. Russia won the gold medal with a time of 3:42.939 and Japan won silver with a time of 3:42.999. Canada is third in the men’s team pursuit World Cup standings with 290 points. Russia leads with 312 points.
In the women’s team pursuit, McLean, Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais had a silver medal winning time of 2:57.811. Japan won the gold medal with a time of 2:56.371 and Russia won the bronze medal with a time of 3:02.396. Canada reached the podium by 6.376 seconds over the Netherlands, who had a fourth place time of 3:04.187.
Canada leads the women’s team pursuit World Cup standings with 324 points. They have 12 more points than Russia, which sits in second with 312 points. The medals for Blondin, Belchos, Weidemann, Fish, Maltais, McLean, Bloemen and Langelaar will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
