Team pursuit, Blondin secure gold; Dubreuil adds silver, Maltais and Bloemen take bronze
After her victory in the women’s team pursuit, Ivanie Blondin added a gold medal to her weekend haul by winning the mass start at the ISU Long Track Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday.
Blondin completed the race in 8 minutes and 14.70 seconds, just ahead of Dutchwoman Irene Schouten (8:14.81). Her Canadian teammate Valérie Maltais (8:15.14) finished third for the bronze.
In an exciting end to the race, Blondin took the lead from the inside in the final corner and cruised to victory. This is the second consecutive victory for Blondin in this event.
Ted-Jan Bloemen finished with a bronze in the men’s 5000m, adding to Canada’s medal count with three more on Sunday.
Finishing in a time of 6:06.88, he was 3.90 seconds behind the leader, Patrick Roest of the Netherlands who finished in a time of 6:02.98. Italy’s Davide Ghiotto took silver with a time of 6:04.23.
Women’s pursuit ends in gold for Canada
The team of Maltais, Isabelle Weidemann, and Blondin cruised to gold in the team pursuit on Saturday at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating.
It’s the second gold in as many weeks for the trio after they took first place last weekend in the Four Continents Championships.
The trio skated to a time 2:54.07, clearing second place Japan by 1.44 seconds, and the U.S. by 3.59 seconds.
It’s Maltais’ second medal in as many days after capturing bronze in the 3000m on Friday.
Laurent Dubreuil continued his pursuit for top spot in the In the 500m World Cup standings with a silver on Saturday.
Dubreuil finished just shy of the gold medal time as he crossed the line in 34.05 seconds, only 0.09 seconds behind the U.S.’ Jordan Stolz. Yuma Murakami of Japan rounded out the time. Stolz set a personal best with his gold medal time.
Dubreuil was coming off of his first World Cup 500m gold of the year in Quebec City, and a gold Four Continents Championships the week prior. He’s now claimed three silvers during the 2023-24 season and sits in second place in the overall standings, trailing Japan’s Wataru Morishige by 37 points. Morishige finished 10th on Saturday.
READ: Dubreuil wins 500m gold, Blondin captures mass start silver at World Cup in Poland
Elsehwere for Canada, Connor Howe missed the podium by just 0.06 seconds in the men’s 1500m, finishing fourth. Two Canadians cracked the Top 10 in the women’s 1500m: Ivanie Blondin finished in sixth place, while Valérie Maltais finished in tenth.
