Canadian Olympic gold medalist Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec won two individual medals in a World Cup speed skating event in Inzell, Germany this past weekend. She won a bronze medal in a women’s 3000 metre event on Saturday and a silver medal in a women’s mass start event on Sunday. The medals are significant because this was the final World Cup speed skating stop before the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
In the women’s 3000 metres, Maltais had a third place time of 3:59.92. Ragne Wiklund of Norway won the gold medal with a time of 3:54.74. Joy Beune of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 3:56.96. Maltais reached the podium by 0.27 seconds over Nadezhda Morozova of Kazakhstan, who had a fourth place time of 4:00.19. In the World Cup women’s long distance standings, Weidemann has 227 points, behind Wiklund, who has 270 points.
In the women’s mass start, Maltais finished behind gold medalist Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands and ahead of bronze medalist Mia Manganello of the United States. Maltais finished in fourth place in the World Cup women’s mass start standings with 221 points.
Maltais’s Olympic gold medal came in the women’s team pursuit at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. She won alongside Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin, who both hail from Ottawa, Ontario.
