Brooklyn McDougall, Ivanie Blondin and Maddison Pearman help reigning World Champions capture medal in first race of the season

BEIJING, CHINA – Brooklyn McDougall, Ivanie Blondin and Maddison Pearman raced to a silver medal in in the women’s Team Sprint event on Sunday, helping Canada wrap up the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Beijing with a total of four medals.

In their first race together this season, McDougall (Calgary, Alta), Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.) and Pearman (Ponoka, Alta) finished the three-lap sprint with a time of 1:28.76, overcoming a slow start to secure their spot on the podium, only 1.02 seconds behind the gold medalists from the Netherlands (1:27.74). Poland wrapped up the podium in bronze medal position (1:29.09).

A medal in the first Team Sprint of the 2023-24 campaign is a promising result for the Canadian team, who finished second in the World Cup rankings last season, winning three silver medals. They ended the season on top of the podium in Heerenveen where they were crowned World Champions, Canada’s first-ever world title in the discipline.

Equally as promising is that the Canadians achieved a podium on Sunday with a slightly different lineup, as 27-year-old Olympian Pearman took over the spot occupied last season by Carolina Hiller (Prince George, B.C.). Sunday’s podium marked the second World Cup medal of Pearman’s career, having previously captured silver alongside Blondin and Alexa Scott (Clandeboye, Man.) in the Team Sprint in Norway during the 2021-22 season.

The ISU World Cup Speed Skating season continues with two stops in Europe next month, in Stavanger, Norway, from December 1-3, and in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland, from December 8-10. Races can be watched live on CBC Sports digital platforms, including CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem app.

Quotes

“We are very happy with the first Team Sprint of the season! It was a great race to build off for the remaining World Cups this season.”

Brooklyn McDougall

“I’m very excited to be on the podium with the girls today. I haven’t done a Team Sprint since the fall of 2021 and I forgot just how fun they were! We had a few last minute decisions before getting on the ice that paid off so looking forward to the rest of the season”

Maddison Pearman

Results

500m

Carolina Hiller: 13th
Brooklyn McDougall: 11th (Division B)
Maddison Pearman: 12th (Division B)

1000m

Connor Howe: 10th
Vincent De Haitre: 14th
Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu: 20th
Laurent Dubreuil: 3rd (Division B)

3000m

Valérie Maltais: 5th
Isabelle Weidemann: 6th
Ivanie Blondin: 9th
Laura Hall: 14th
Béatrice Lamarche: 7th (Division B)

Mass Start

Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu: 17th
Connor Howe: 2nd (Division B)

Team Sprint

Women: 2nd