Ivanie Blondin

Biography

Ivanie Blondin won two medals during her third Olympic appearance at Beijing 2022. She captured gold in the team pursuit alongside Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann, setting an Olympic record time in the process. She then added a silver medal in the mass start. 

Blondin is an eight-time medallist at the ISU World Single Distances Championships. That includes two world titles (2016, 2020) and three silver medals (2015, 2019, 2021) in the mass start, a bronze in the 5000m (2017), as well as a silver (2021) and a bronze (2020) in the team pursuit. 

Blondin has twice won the overall World Cup title in the mass start, in 2014-15 and in 2019-20. She finished second overall in the event in 2015-16 and 2020-21 and third overall three times (2012-13. 2016-17, 2017-18). 

In addition to her multitude of World Cup medals in the mass start, Blondin has also had success in the more traditional speed skating distances. She has won World Cup gold medals in the 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m. In 2017-18, she finished the season ranked second overall in the combined 3000/5000m standings and was third overall in those distances in 2019-20. 

Blondin made her Olympic debut at Sochi 2014, just four years after converting to the long track from short track. In her second Olympic appearance at PyeongChang 2018, she posted top-six finishes in the team pursuit, 3000m, and 5000m but had an unfortunate fall in the mass start semifinal that prevented her from advancing to the final.

Coming home from PyeongChang without a medal when she had been a podium threat in multiple events was tough for Blondin and she found herself battling depression. Though she won a mass start medal at the 2019 World Single Distances Championships, she wasn’t as confident in the other individual distances. She helped improve her mental health through medication and therapy, but also by being a foster parent for animals. 

Blondin rebounded strongly in 2019-20 and made some history in the process. In December 2019 she won five straight gold medals in five different events, something that had never been done before by any speed skater. At the World Cup 3 in Kazakhstan, she was victorious in the 1500m, 5000m and team pursuit. The following week at World Cup 4 in Nagano, she was the winner of the 3000m and mass start. She capped the season with her second mass start world title as well as her first career overall medal at the World Allround Championships as she claimed silver. 

Blondin showed great resilience the following season when the team was left without a consistent training location because of problems with the ice making equipment at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were just two World Cups as well as the World Single Distances Championships. Together with Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais, she won gold in both team pursuit World Cup races plus a silver at the worlds. She won silver in the mass start at both World Cups as well as at the world championships.  

In the pre-Olympic World Cups in the fall of 2021, Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais won gold in all three team pursuit races. Blondin also won three medals in the mass start, including one gold.  

Blondin had enjoyed early success as a short track speed skater. At 14 she made the junior national team and at 17 she competed at the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, winning gold in the 1500m and silver in the 1000m. But after five concussions in a three-year span, she began to think about making a change. During her last year as a junior, she made the national teams for both short track and long track. In 2020 she moved to Calgary to focus on long track. 

After competing at the World Single Distances Championships in her first full season of long track, Blondin’s 2011-12 season did not go as hoped. She battled fatigue for several months until being diagnosed with mononucleosis. As a result of the illness, she was put on the national development team for 2012-13. But she earned her spot on the World Cup squad and won three medals as part of the team pursuit, including her first victory, and finished the year ranked third in the World Cup standings for the mass start. 

Getting into the Sport: Started skating in her backyard at age two… Was put into figure skating but as a tomboy was more inclined towards speed skating and started that at age 7… Her love of going fast led her to choose speed skating over cross-country skiing… Started in short track at age 14 before switching to long track at age 20… Outside Interests: Fosters animals for the Cochrane Humane Society and Pawsitive Match Rescue in Calgary… Enjoys cooking, hiking, fishing, camping, gardening… Completed a veterinary assistant program online through Robertson College… Odds and Ends: Has a parrot named Gizmo and a Pyrenees/St. Bernard dog named Brooke… Favourite quote: “It’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” – Rocky…