Speed Skating Canada

| Events: International, National Team: Long Track

Laurent Dubreuil and Mixed Relay team finish World Cup in Milwaukee with bronze medal performances

| Events: International, National Team: Long Track

Laurent Dubreuil and Mixed Relay team finish World Cup in Milwaukee with bronze medal performances

| Events: International, National Team: Long Track

Laurent Dubreuil and Mixed Relay team finish World Cup in Milwaukee with bronze medal performances

Blondin and Johnson lead Canada to second ever mixed relay medal; Dubreuil wins second consecutive 500m bronze

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Canada’s long track speed skating team earned a pair of bronze medals on the final day ISU World Cup Speed Skating action in Milwaukee, bringing their season total to 10 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze) after the first four events.

Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.) earned 500m bronze for the second day in a row, skating a time of 34.35 to earn the third spot on the podium. The 32-year-old veteran looks to be back in form following an injury, posting near identical times in two straight races to gain valuable ground in the World Cup rankings, where he currently sits fourth (276 points).

Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama shocked the speed skating world during Sunday’s sprint, stopping the clock in 34.14 to successfully knock American phenom Jordan Stolz (+0.05 ) off the top of the podium. It was Stolz’s first loss in the 500m since December 2023, a span of nine World Cup victories and two World Championship titles.

“My start was excellent today at 9.55, equal with Shinhama which is the best I could have hoped for. My lap was a little less good. I was a bit too stretched out and was pushing too much behind me. I think with a perfect race I could have beat him [Shinhama], but I was missing just a little something today. In the end, getting another bronze medal is really good. I’m very, very happy to be able to keep winning medals this season.”

Laurent Dubreuil

The Canadian duo of Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.) and Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.) were in the thick of the action in the women’s mass start, before an unfortunate fall put them out of medal contention. The pair were near the front of the pack with two laps remaining but got tangled up with one another, causing them both to lose balance and slide to the ice.

Blondin redeemed herself in Sunday’s final event, teaming up with Anders Johnson (Burnaby, B.C.) to bring home bronze in the Mixed Relay. The Canadians crossed the finish line in 2:58.01 and looked to be in silver medal position, but after further review the officials deemed the Norwegians had bested them by one thousandth of a second, bumping them down to third place. The Dutch earned gold with a time of 2:56.56.

“Really excited to win a medal, be on the podium and bring home a cheese head! It was my first time doing this event with Ivanie and it was a lot of fun. Kudos to Bjørn [Magnussen from Norway] for edging us out at the very end. I thought I had him.”

Anders Johnson

It was the second medal for Canada in this new discipline, with Blondin and Yankun Zhao having earned bronze at the season opener in Nagano.

The ISU World Cup Speed Skating season concludes with stops in Poland (February 21-23) and the Netherlands (February 28-March 2). In the meantime, Canada’s junior long track team will be in action this coming weekend at the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Collalbo, Italy.

Results

500m Women’s

  • Caroline Hiller: 17th
  • Brooklyn McDougall: 4th (Division B)
  • Rose Laliberté-Roy: 5th (Division B)
  • Beatrice Lamarche: 11th (Division B)

500m Men’s

  • Laurent Dubreuil: 3rd
  • Anders Johnson: 12th
  • Christopher Fiola: 1st (Division B)
  • Cedrick Brunet: 12th (Division B)

Mass Start Women’s

  • Ivanie Blondin: 17th
  • Valerie Maltais: DQ

Mass Start Men’s

  • David La Rue: 11th
  • Jake Weidemann: 1st (Division B)

Team Events

  • Mixed Relay: 3rd
  • Women’s Pursuit: 6th
  • Men’s Pursuit: 6th