Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta won the gold medal on Friday in the men’s 5000 metres at a World Cup in Quebec City, Quebec. Bloemen, who won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, was one of four Canadian medalists in Quebec City this past weekend. He was joined by Canadian Olympic gold medalist Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec (bronze in the women’s 3000 metres on Friday), Canadian Olympic silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil of Quebec City (silver in the men’s 500 metres on Saturday), and Connor Howe of Canmore, Alberta (bronze in the men’s 1500 metres on Saturday). Maltais won the gold medal in the women’s team pursuit and Dubreuil won silver in the men’s 1000 metres at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
In the men’s 5000 metres, Bloemen had a gold medal winning time of 6:13.87. Davide Ghiotto of Italy won the silver medal with a time of 6:17.18. Hallgeir Engebraten of Norway won the bronze medal with a time of 6:17.56. Bloemen reached the podium by 6.62 seconds. Michele Malfatti of Italy finished in fourth place with a time of 6:20.49.
In the women’s 3000 metres, Maltais had a bronze medal winning time of 4:02.73. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 4:01.11. Joy Beune of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 4:02.62. Maltais reached the podium by six tenths of a second over fellow Canadian Olympic gold medalist and women’s team pursuit teammate Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario, who had a fourth place time of 4:02.79.
In the men’s 1500 metres, Howe had a bronze medal winning time of 1:45.73. Jordan Stolz of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 1:44.01. Zhongyan Ning of China won the silver medal with a time of 1:44.79. Howe reached the podium by 0.26 seconds. Hallgeir Engebraten of Norway finished in fourth place with a time of 1:45.99. In the World Cup men’s 1500 metres World Cup standings, Howe finished in fifth place with 198 points. Ning was the World Cup men’s 1500 metre champion with 292 points.
In the men’s 500 metres on Saturday, Dubreuil had a silver medal winning time of 34.59 seconds. Stolz won the gold medal with a time of 34.51 seconds. Yuma Murakami of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 34.67 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.13 seconds over Marek Kania of Poland, who had a time of 34.72 seconds. In the World Cup men’s 500 metre standings, Dubreuil finished in second place with 466 points. Wataru Morishige of Japan was the men’s 500 metre World Cup champion with 483 points. The World Cup medals won by Dubreuil, Howe, Maltais and Bloemen in Quebec City will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
