Nova Scotia native sits third in women’s Allround standings after first two distances

INZELL, GERMANY – Nova Scotia’s Julia Snelgrove captured Canada’s lone medal on the opening day of racing at the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Inzell, earning silver in the women’s 500m.

Snelgrove (Dartmouth, N.S.) stopped the clock in 38.78 to finish the sprint in second place behind Kazakhstan’s Kristina Shumekova, who earned gold with a time of 38.48. Poland’s Wiktoria Dąbrowska rounded out the podium in bronze medal position (38.96).

It marked the first individual distance medal of Snelgrove’s junior career. She reached the podium twice last season in Collalbo, partnering with Isabelle Champagne and Skylar Van Horne to win silver in the women’s Team Sprint, and with Jalen Doan to capture the country’s first ever medal in the Mixed Relay.

“At the end of the day, I think the hardest thing for me in this sport is going into a race with full confidence in my abilities, and I believe I was able to do that heading into this race!”

Julia Snelgrove

The 18-year-old Snelgrove later finished 11th in the women’s 1500m with a time of 2:00.23, a little over four seconds behind race winner Shumekova (1:56.06).

Snelgrove currently sits third in the Allround rankings after Friday’s results, as she looks to become the first Canadian woman since Manitoba’s Alexa Scott in 2020 to reach the overall podium at the event. Only five Canadian women have achieved this feat since the competition was first introduced in 1973, with only Sylvia Burka (1973), Liz Appelby (1976) and Shannon Rempel (2003) earning the overall title.

A pair of Canadian sprinters also earned top 10 results on the opening day of racing. Skylar Van Horne (Winnipeg, Man.) was eighth in the women’s 500m (39.46), while Zakhary Adelman (Lethbridge, Alta.) was tenth in the same distance on the men’s side with a new personal best of 36.28.

The ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships continue tomorrow with the women’s 1000m and 3000m, as well as the men’s 1000m and 5000m. Races will be live streamed on the ISU YouTube channel starting at 3:00am ET.

Results

Women’s 500m

Julia Snelgrove: 2nd
Skylar Van Horne: 8th
Maxine Volstad: 20th
Isabelle Champagne: 26th

Women’s 1500m

Julia Snelgrove: 11th
Skylar Van Horne: 14th
Maxine Volstad: 23rd
Isabelle Champagne: 25th

Men’s 500m

Zakhary Adelman: 10th
Marek Chomin: 32nd
Gabriel Charest: 43rd

Men’s 1500m

Marek Chomin: 32nd
Zakhary Adelman: 34th
Gabriel Charest: 36th
Brock Gilbert: 46th