Maltais and Bloemen finish just off long distance podiums with 4th and 5th place results

HAMAR, NORWAY – Isabelle Weidemann was back on the World Cup podium Saturday, winning silver in the women’s 3000m to capture her second individual distance medal of the season.

Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.) overcame a slow start by posting consistent lap times, helping her chase down, and eventually overtake, pair mate Ragne Wiklund (4:01.41) to cross the finish line with a time of 4:01.30 and grab the silver medal. The pair were joined on the podium by gold medalist Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands (4:00.95).

Fellow Canadians Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.) and Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.) finished the distance ranked fourth (4:03.62) and tenth (4:07.08), respectively.

“I’ve skated against Ragne quite a bit this season and we’ve gone back and forth. I wanted to stay with her as long as possible. She starts really well and so I wanted to hold onto her a little more than I did last weekend in the 5000m. It takes me a while sometimes to find the right gear, but once I find the pace it seems to click, and that’s the point when others start to struggle. I think there’s a trust in my strategy. I’m watching people skate away from me because I don’t have the sprint in the beginning, but I know that when the pace starts to slow down, especially on slow ice like this, I can work a little bit.”

Isabelle Weidemann

Saturday’s podium performance was the second in as many weeks for Weidemann, who earned her first individual distance medal of the season last Friday in Heerenveen, where she captured silver in the 5000m. The 30-year-old finishes the four Olympic qualifying World Cups ranked second overall (191 points) in the women’s long distances, one spot ahead of teammate Maltais (174 points). While official team nominations will not be made until mid January, those results prequalify the pair for Milano Cortina 2026.

Meanwhile, veteran long distance skater Ted-Jan Bloemen (Calgary, Alta.) cracked the top 10 with a fifth place finish in the men’s 5000m (6:14.33). Despite falling short of the podium, Saturday’s performance put Bloemen, who is ranked sixth overall, in line to be prequalified for the men’s long distances at what would be his third career Olympic Games.

The fourth ISU World Cup Speed Skating event of the season comes to an end on Sunday, where medals will be handed out in the men’s and women’s 500m, Mass Start and Team Pursuit. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sport and Radio-Canada Sports digital platforms starting at 7:00AM ET.

Results

Men’s 1000m

David La Rue: 3rd (Division B)
Anders Johnson: 9th (Division B)
Tyson Langelaar: 10th (Division B)
Yankun Zhao: 20th (Division B)

Women’s 1000m

Beatrice Lamarche: 10th
Alexa Scott: 16th
Maddison Pearman: 4th (Division B)
Brooklyn McDougall: 22nd (Division B)

Women’s 3000m

Isabelle Weidemann: 2nd
Valerie Maltais: 4th
Ivanie Blondin: 10th
Laura Hall: 13th (Division B)
Abigail McCluskey: 19th (Division B)

Men’s 5000m

Ted-Jan Bloemen: 5th
Graeme Fish: 12th (Division B)
Daniel Hall: 18th (Division B)