TOMASZÓW MAZOWIECKI, POLAND – Canada’s long track speed skaters combined to celebrate a medal hat trick on Sunday during the final day of ISU World Cup Speed Skating racing in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.
Laurent Dubreuil added to his medal haul, winning his second 500-metre silver medal over the weekend. Ivanie Blondin locked up the bronze in the women’s mass start race before jumping onto the second step of the team sprint podium with Carolina Hiller and Beatrice Lamarche.
The 32-year-old Dubreuil snagged his 41st career World Cup medal after clocking a time of 34.70, finishing 0.18 seconds off the golden pace set by Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Koshkin at 34.52. Racing in the outside lane in the third last heat, Dubreuil edged out Poland’s Marek Kania for second spot on the podium. The Polish skater brought the hometown crowd to its feet with a bronze-medal time of 34.76.
“It was a good race. I was very happy with my start – 9.55 seconds with a false start is very good. After that, I had a good 200m but my second turn was not super good. But it was faster than yesterday and if it were not for the race of a lifetime for Koshkin, it may have been enough for gold. I am still happy with my race and my weekend. Two silver medals is quite satisfying.”Je suis très contente de ma course et très contente de ma fin de semaine. Deux médailles d’argent c’est super satisfaisant.”
Laurent Dubreuil
It was the 21st World Cup silver medal for the Lévis, Quebec native. He also has six gold and 14 bronze in addition to 10 World Championship podiums throughout his illustrious career. His two silvers in the Polish 500-metre double-header, puts him in second-place in the overall World Cup standings.
Meanwhile, Blondin grabbed a pair of medals herself on Sunday.
The three-time Olympian blazed her trail to the podium by taking a bronze in the women’s mass start event, clocking a time of 8:20.79 in a spirited affair.
“It was pretty feisty out there. I am happy to get on the podium, but definitely frustrating where the finish was. There was lots of drama in that race again, said Blondin, who claimed silver in the discipline at the 2022 Olympics. It was a fast race from start-to-finish, which I liked and that played to my advantage, but in the final sprint there were a couples of elbows that weren’t to my advantage. It is what it is. I’m always learning every race and trying to get better for the next one.”
Ivanie Blondin
Marijke Groenewould of the Netherlands held off a field of 20 of the fastest women on ice, taking the gold medal with a time of 8:20.34. Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida hung on for the silver medal at 8:20.48.
Blondin, a 34-year-old from the Nation’s Capital, helped put a silver lining around the weekend for the Canucks while returning to the start line with Hiller of Prince George, B.C., and Lamarche of Quebec City for the women’s team sprint.
The Canadian trio locked up their second podium of the season in the action-packed discipline after posting a time of 1:28.30. The Polish team won the gold on Sunday with a time of 1:28.07, while the Dutch were third at 1:28.46.
Canada also won gold last month in Calgary and finish the season ranked second overall in the distance behind Poland heading into the next Team Sprint at the World Championships in March.
“We have been consistent all year. We have a good strategy and work well today. The last two (races) were really good. It was a close one with Poland today and we should be proud of that. This gives us a lot of confidence going into World Championships,” added Ivanie Blondin.
The Canadian long track speed skating team now travels to Heerenveen, The Netherlands, for the final ISU World Cup Speed Skating event of the season next weekend. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sport digital platforms.
Results
Women’s 500m
Carolina Hiller: 14th
Brooklyn McDougall: 4th (B Division)
Rose Laliberté-Roy: 11th (B Division)
Maddison Pearman: 23rd (B Division)
Men’s 500m
Laurent Dubreuil: 2nd
Anders Johnson: 18th
Christopher Fiola: 4th
Cédrick Brunet: 9th (B Division)
Women’s Mass Start
Ivanie Blondin: 3rd
Valérie Maltais: 15th
Men’s Mass Start
David La Rue: 8th
Jake Weidemann: 15th
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630