Quebec wins men’s Team Pursuit gold; Saskatchewan brings home four medals
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA – Alberta’s Isabelle Champagne won her second gold medal of the 2023 Canada Winter Games, bringing home gold in the women’s 3000m on Thursday in Halifax. Fellow Albertan Daniel Hall was also victorious in the men’s 5000m, while Quebec captured the men’s Team Pursuit title.
Champagne, who also won gold in Tuesday’s 1500m, was far and away the fastest female skater in Tuesday’s 3000m. The Calgary native posted a time of 4:51.37, eight seconds quicker than her closest competitor, to earn the victory.
Ontario’s Rachel Mallard (4:59.15) and Saskatchewan’s Serena Dallaire (4:59.66) finished the race in silver and bronze medal position, respectively. It was Dallaire’s second medal of the Games, having also captured 1500m bronze.
On the men’s side, Hall, who recently won Mass Start silver at the ISU World Junior Championships in Germany, crushed his competitors in the 5000m, crossing the line with a time of 7:15.31. He was joined on the podium by a pair of Saskatchewan skaters in Bon Lowe (7:27.31) and Luca Veeman (7:33.97), who won 1500m silver earlier this week.
The third day of long track action ended with the men’s Team Pursuit, which saw Quebec bring home gold from a closely matched field. Their time of 4:16.55 earned them the top spot, matching the result their female provincial counterparts achieve yesterday. Saskatchewan (4:17.14) finished second, while Alberta (4:19.31) was third.
The full results from today’s races are available on GemsPro. Fans can also re-watch the races on-demand by visiting canadagames.ca/watch.
Skaters will wrap up their Canada Winter Games tomorrow at the Emera Oval in Halifax with the men’s and women’s 1000m and Mass Start.
Quotes
“The weather was pretty decent, and the ice was nice and hard, so those good conditions made it possible for me to get a good time.”
Daniel Hall (AB)
“It feels really good to be getting my second medal. I wasn’t really expecting anything like this but I am happy to have it.”
Isabelle Champagne (AB)
“It was both a physical and psychological challenge today, but I think we all used our strengths to overcome that and put together a good race. We can be really satisfied with our result. Yesterday was not easy. We learnt a lot from the mistakes we made in that non-official race.”
Raphaël Côté (QC)
Results
Women’s 3000m Top-5
- Isabelle Champagne (AB) 4:51.37
- Rachel Mallard (ON) 4:59.15
- Serena Dallaire (SK) 4:59.66
- Emilie Greenfield (QC) 5:02.70
- Sofia Bieber (MB) 5:02.77
Men’s 5000m Top-5
- Daniel Hall (AB) 7:15.31
- Bon Lowe (SK) 7:27.31
- Luca Veeman (SK) 7:33.97
- Zacharie Després (QC) 7:36.30
- Adam Buchwald (MB) 7:36.83
Men’s Team Pursuit Top-5
- Quebec 4:16.55
- Saskatchewan 4:17.14
- Alberta 4:19.31
- Manitoba 4:24.62
- Ontario 4:37.22