Long Track: Canadian women capture team pursuit gold at World Cup in Poland
Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais delivered a strong race to capture the women’s team pursuit gold medal on day two of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.
The Canadians reached the top spot of the podium with a time of three minutes and 0.28 seconds ahead of the 2018 Olympic champions Japan (3:01.516). The Netherlands finished in third place with a time of 3:02.699. This is Weidemann’s second World Cup medal of the weekend.
READ: Long Track: Canadians claim three medals on first day of World Cup season opener
On Friday, the first day of competition in the 2021-22 season, a trio of Canadian long track skaters opened the international season with two silver and one bronze medal. Weidemann took silver in the women’s 3000m, Ted-Jan Bloemen skated to second place in the men’s 5000m and Laurent Dubreuil captured bronze in the men’s 500m.
READ: Speed into the season with Team Canada’s long track speed skaters
Competition at the season-opening World Cup continues throughout the weekend. After that, the Canadian team will head to Stavanger, Norway for the second stop on the circuit taking place November 19-21.
Canadian athletes can pre-qualify for nomination to the 2022 Olympic Team if they achieve a top-eight World Cup ranking in an individual distance following the first four events of the season in mid-December.
READ: Skating towards Beijing 2022: What to watch in long track, short track, and figure skating
