Gold for women and silver for men in the Team Pursuit; Blondin and Gélinas-Beaulieu reach the podium in the Mass Start

SALT LAKE CITY, USA – The ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City comes to a close with an additional four medals for Canada. Over the course of the competition, Canadian skaters earned six gold, three silver, and three bronze.

Canada opened the final day of the competition with a gold medal in the Women’s Team Pursuit. Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.), Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa Ont.), and Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.) raced to the top of the podium, finishing with a time of 2:54.02. Japan finished in second place (+3.52), and the United States finished third (+10.30).

Connor Howe (Regina, Sask.), Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (Sherbrooke, Que.), and Hayden Mayeur (Toronto, Ont.) skated to the silver medal in the Men’s Team Pursuit, finishing the race in 3:36.84. The United States took the gold by a margin of 0.04 (3:36.80), and Japan won bronze (+5.28).

Blondin climbed to the top of the podium for the second time of the day in the Mass Start. She broke away from eventual medalists Giorgia Birkeland of the United States (8:44.65) and Kyoko Nitta of Japan (8:47.19) in the final lap to win the gold with a time of 8:42.56. Laura Hall (Salmon Arm, B.C.) finished in 7th place (8:54.30).

Gélinas-Beaulieu also picked up his second medal of the day, taking the bronze in the Mass Start with a time of 8:16.46, finishing behind gold medallist Jae-Won Chung of Korea (8:16.33) and Shomu Sasaki of Japan (8:16.43). Daniel Hall (Calgary, Alta.) finished the race in 7th place (8:29.84).

The ISU World Cup Speed Skating season continues in Salt Lake City with a World Cup from January 26-28. Races can be watched live on CBC Sports digital platforms, including CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem app.

Quotes

“We went into today’s race with no real expectations. The boys and I haven’t skated together as a team since our 2023 World Championships Medal so it was an opportunity to shake off the rust and see what we could do. We were extremely happy with the outcome. To be only four hundredths of a second off the Americans who have been on the podium at World Cups on several occasions this year, I think we’re on the right track. We still have plenty of room to improve and I’m excited to see what’s to come through the remainder of this season leading into the 2024 World Championships in Calgary. Being back on the international stage and podium is always special, but after today, I think the fire is lit to chase down that Gold we missed out on by a tenth of a second last year at World Champs.”

Hayden Mayeur

“I knew it was going to be a big race weekend with four races on the schedule. Our first Team Sprint performance was exceptional. I had to adjust afterwards by cutting the 1500m and that was the right decision for the rest of the weekend. We reunited our competitive team in the Team Pursuit and the race went perfectly, although we still had a few things to work on. As for the Mass Start, I’m very satisfied with my race and it’s a great way to end the weekend!”

Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu

Results

Team Pursuit

Women: 1st
Men: 2nd

1000m

Maddison Pearman: 10th
Alexa Scott: 12th
Alison Desmarais: 14th
Laurent Dubreuil: 5th
Yankun Zhao: 7th
Vincent De Haître: 8th

Mass Start

Ivanie Blondin: 1st
Laura Hall: 7th
Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu: 3rd
Daniel Hall: 7th