QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC – Ivanie Blondin and Graeme Fish captured their second national championship titles in as many days at the 2024 Canadian Long Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance in Quebec City, while Connor Howe and Laura Hall also reached the top of the podium at the Centre de glace Intact Assurance on Friday evening.
Blondin captured her second national title of the season, following up yesterday’s 3000m crown with a win in the women’s 1000m. The Ottawa native’s time of 1:15.562 placed her comfortably ahead of Maddison Pearman (Ponoka, Alta.) and Rose Laliberté-Roy (Saint-Étienne, Que.), who crossed the line in 1:17.182 and 1:18.119, respectively.
“It was a great 1000m today and I was really happy with the end result. I had a great pair and Carolina [Hiller] really pushed me. I was a little worried that we were going to have a cross-over problem because she’s more of a sprinter than I am. I was very aware of that possibility, so I decided to go as hard as I could off the start and that’s really what got me going. I was able to maintain that into the second lap thanks to my long-distance experience.”Ivanie Blondin.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s 5000m champion Fish (Moose Jaw, Sask.) was once again atop the long-distance podium, cruising to an easy victory in the men’s 10,000m. The reigning World Championship bronze medalist in the distance skated a time of 12:58.414, much faster than his closest competitors, silver medalist Daniel Hall (Calgary, Alta.) and bronze medalist Connor Waters (Oakville, Ont.), who finished the grueling race in 13:48.799 and 14:13.529, respectively.
“I felt pretty solid today. It’s always nice to go out there and have a good showing. Basically, my goals today were to execute my race plan and implement what I’ve been working on in training, and I think I was able to do that. I’m hoping to build off that and keep getting better every day.”Graeme Fish.
A pair of new faces were also crowned national champions on Friday.
Connor Howe (Canmore, Alta.) won the men’s 1000m, posting a time of 1:08.933 to defeat hometown favourite Laurent Dubreuil, who finished in 1:09.298. Anders Johnson (Burnaby, B.C), a 500m specialist, surprised his fellow competitors by skating his second fastest time ever in the longer sprint distance (1:09.513) to secure the bronze medal.
“I’m pretty happy with my race. I feel I’ve had pretty good speed the last couple weeks, so it was just putting it all together here today. I was a bit worried because my 5000m took a bit out of the legs, but it ended up being okay. I’m excited for the 1500m tomorrow. I think I can fix a few things from today and hopefully have a good one.”Connor Howe
Things were wide open in the women’s 5000m after veterans Blondin and Valérie Maltais made the decision to skip the race, having already secured their World Cup spots following yesterday’s 3000m. That opened the door for Laura Hall (Salmon Arm, B.C.), who earned the first national championship title of her career with a time of 7:19.645. She was joined on the podium by Abigail McCluskey (Penticton, B.C.) and Laurie Cayer (Lévis, Que.), who finished in 7:20.160 and 7:24.188, respectively.
“I feel pretty good. I just wanted to go out and skate some consistent laps. I made it most of the way through the race before it really started to go downhill, but I was able to hang on until the end. I’m hopeful I can keep getting faster and try to get some personal bests along the way this year.”Laura Hall.
The 2024 Canadian Long Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance continue tomorrow, where both the men and women will compete in the 500m-2 and 1500m. Races will again be live streamed on CBC Sports digital platforms.
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
abrouillette@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630