Speed Skating Canada

| Events: International, National Team: Long Track

Canadian women capture Team Sprint gold to wrap-up speed skating World Cup in Calgary

| Events: International, National Team: Long Track

Canadian women capture Team Sprint gold to wrap-up speed skating World Cup in Calgary

| Events: International, National Team: Long Track

Canadian women capture Team Sprint gold to wrap-up speed skating World Cup in Calgary

Hiller, Lamarche and Blondin golden on home ice at Olympic Oval

CALGARY, ALBERTA – The trio of Carolina Hiller, Béatrice Lamarche and Ivanie Blondin brought a near sellout crowd to their feet at the Olympic Oval on Sunday with a gold medal performance in the women’s team sprint on the final day of ISU World Cup Speed Skating action in Calgary.

Skating in the final pair, the Canadians posted a time of 1:24.90, leaping over Poland (+1.12) and Kazakhstan (+1.46) to grab the top spot on the podium. It marked the first medal of the season for the reining World Champions in the distance, as well as the first for the trio of Hiller (Prince George, B.C.), Lamarche (Québec City, Que.) and Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.), who finished fourth in their only other skate together earlier this season at the World Cup in Beijing.

“It felt really nice to finally get onto the podium this weekend! As a training group, the middle and long distance skaters did two high-altitude camps and our legs were just not there this weekend. But the focus is always to peak at World Championships, and we try to remind ourselves that. I would have loved to hit the podium a few more times this weekend and not just this once, but I’m really satisfied to have done it with the girls in the Team Sprint. It was an incredible, collective effort and that’s what makes it so beautiful.”

Ivanie Blondin

The Canadian men fell just short of the podium in their team sprint, finishing fourth overall. The newly minted trio of Laurent Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.), Anders Johnson (Burnaby, B.C.) and Connor Howe (Canmore, Alta.) crossed the finish line in 1:17.75, just 0.17 seconds behind bronze medal position. The American’s set a new world record en route to gold, ahead of the Netherlands (+0.56) and Poland (+0.60).

Both Blondin and Dubreuil both narrowly missed out on the podium in Sunday’s individuals distances.

Despite her best efforts, Blondin was unable to catch up to the breakaway pack in the women’s mass start, settling for a fourth-place finish (8:44.97). Greta Myers of the United States cruised to her first career individual World Cup medal in 8:36.64, comfortable ahead of China’s Wenjing Jin and Germany’s Michelle Uhrig.

Dubreuil, meanwhile, posted a time of 34.14 (+0.29) in the men’s 500m, good for fifth place in his return to the sprint distance after two months off due to injury. American Jordan Stolz continued his undefeated streak with yet another gold medal (33.85), squeezing out the win ahead of Dutch skater Jenning De Boo (+0.02) and Poland’s Damian Żurek (+0.22).

The ISU World Cup Speed Skating season continues next weekend in Milwaukee, before traveling overseas for stop in the Netherlands and Poland in February. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sports digital platforms throughout the rest of the season.

Results

Women’s 500m

  • Carolina Hiller: 16th
  • Beatrice Lamarche: 6th (Division B)
  • Rose Laliberte-Roy: 10th (Division B)
  • Brooklyn McDougall: 11th (Division B)
  • Jenna Larter: 26th (Division B)

Men’s 500m

  • Laurent Dubreuil: 5th
  • Anders Johnson: 3rd (Division B)
  • Christopher Fiola: 7th (Division B)
  • Antoine Roger: 17th (Division B)
  • Cedrick Brunet: 27th (Division B)

Women’s Mass Start

  • Ivanie Blondin: 4th
  • Valerie Maltais: 8th

Men’s Mass Start

  • David La Rue: 12th
  • Jake Weidemann: 10th (Division B)

Team Sprint

  • Women’s: 1st
  • Men’s: 4th