Gold and bronze in the team pursuit at the Heerenveen Speed Skating World Cup
Canada’s speed skaters claimed two medals on Friday, both coming from the team pursuit events.
Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais found themselves on top of the ladies team pursuit podium, while Ted-Jan Bloemen, Jordan Belchos and Connor Howe took bronze in the same event for men at the Speed Skating World in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
The women clocked 2:56.718 seconds to clinch gold, edging out the Netherlands (2: 57.040) and Norway (2: 59.247). This same group won a silver in the team pursuit in 2019 during the World Cup in Nagano, Japan.
Retired speed skater Anastasia Bucsis showed off her support for the athletes on Twitter.
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GOLD MEDAL AFTER SKATING ON FROZEN LAKES ON SHORT TRACK & HOCKEY SKATES…. wow. Can't believe my eyes. @SSC_PVC @TeamCanada 🥇🥇 https://t.co/xCtmaFeASr
— Anastasia Bucsis (@anastasure) January 22, 2021
On the men’s side, the team of Bloemen, Belchos and Howe recorded a time of 3:41.711 seconds to reach the podium, behind the team of the Netherlands (3:40.332), and that of Norway. (3:41.628). The bronze medal marked Connor Howe’s first career World Cup podium.
Team Canada with Ted-Jan Bloemen, white armband, Jordan Belchos, red armband and Connor Howe, yellow armband, compete during the men’s team pursuit race of the World Cup Speedskating at the Thialf ice arena in Heerenveen, northern Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Competition continues through Sunday in Heerenveen with individual events.
