Canadian Olympic gold medalists Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec and Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta won World Cup speed skating silver medals in Stavanger, Norway this past weekend. Maltais won the silver medal in the women’s mass start event on Friday, and Bloemen won the silver medal in the men’s 10 000 metres on Saturday.
In the women’s mass start, Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won the gold medal. Mia Kilburg-Manganello of the United States won the bronze medal. Only four athletes finished the race and generated points. With the gold medal, Maltais moves into first place in the World Cup women’s mass start speed skating standings with 145 points. Kilburg-Manganello is in second place with 139 points.
In the men’s 10 000 metres, Bloemen had a time of 13:12.33. Davide Ghiotto of Italy won the gold medal with a time of 13:02.71. Michele Malfatti of Italy won the bronze medal with a time of 13:12.89. Bloemen reached the podium by 4.55 seconds over Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, who was in fourth place with a time of 13:16.88. This was the first men’s 10 000 metres World Cup race of the season.
Maltais won the Olympic gold medal for Canada in the women’s team pursuit with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Bloemen won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s 10 000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The silver medals in Stavanger will give Bloemen and Maltais confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
