Connor Howe, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais crack top-10 in the 1500m on opening day of World Cup season

NAGANO, JAPAN – Laurent Dubreuil picked up this season’s ISU World Cup Speed Skating campaign where he left off at the end of last year. The native of Lévis, Que. – who was second overall in the men’s 500m rankings during the 2023-24 season – captured a silver medal in the distance at the inaugural World Cup of the season at the M-Wave in Nagano.

Skating in the second-last pair, Dubreuil knew the time to beat was 34.43, put down by American and reigning World Champion Jordan Stolz. Dubreuil stopped the clock in 34.58 to finish just off the leader’s pace, but eking out bronze medalist Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan by three one-thousandths of a second.

“I am really happy with my race today. It wasn’t a perfect race by any means, but I’d say that it was quite good. The start was a bit slower than last week, but this was my first time skating a lap under 25 seconds at sea level this year. I know there is a tenth or two to be gained out there, so hopefully I can find that speed for the next 500m this Sunday.”

Laurent Dubreuil

A trio of Canadians also cracked the top ten in the 1500m on Friday. Connor Howe finished eighth in men’s racing, while Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais clocked the fifth and ninth fastest times among the women, respectively.  

The ISU World Cup Speed Skating continues Saturday with the 1000m, women’s 3000m and men’s 5000m. Races begin at 11:00pm ET and will be streamed live on CBC Sports.

Results

Women’s 500m

Carolina Hiller – 15th
Béatrice Lamarche – 9th (B Division)
Maddison Pearman – 23rd (B Division)

Men’s 500m

Laurent Dubreuil – 2nd
Anders Johnson – 5th (B Division)
Yankun Zhao – 8th (B Division)
Christopher Fiola – 9th (B Division)

Women’s 1500m

Ivanie Blondin: 5th
Valérie Maltais: 9th
Béatrice Lamarche – 8th (B Division)
Laura Hall – 16th (B Division)
Maddison Pearman – 26th (B Division)

Men’s 1500m

Connor Howe: 8th
David La Rue: 15th
Hayden Mayeur – 14th (B Division)
Tyson Langelaar – 19th (B Division)