Dubreuil secures second place in overall 500m World Cup standings; Blondin snags third mass start podium of season and leads Canada to overall title in mixed relay
HEERENVEEN, NETHERLANDS – Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil and Ivanie Blondin chalked up a pair of silver medals to cap off the long track speed skating World Cup season on Sunday in Heerenveen.
Quebec’s Dubreuil is charging into the World Championships on a roll, winning his third 500-metre silver medal over the last two weekends. The 32-year-old made his sixth trip to the sprint-distance podium of the season, finishing just 0.05 seconds from the gold medal. The Lévis skater started in the outside lane in the penultimate heat, clocking a time of 34.51.
“It was a good race and I’m really happy. I would have loved to win gold, and I was pretty close, only 0.05 seconds off. I am starting to feel a bit of fatigue from a full season of racing. I didn’t open as quickly as I could or as quickly as I did in previous weeks, but I’m still skating very well. I was happy to be able to have a good lap and pick up some good speed, even if my legs were a bit less explosive than last week.” Shared Laurent Dubreuil
It was the 42nd career World Cup medal (6 gold, 22 silver, 14 bronze) for the two-time Olympian who also boasts a silver medal from the 2022 Games in Beijing and 10 World Championship podiums. Sunday’s triumph also secured Dubreuil second in the overall World Cup standings for the fifth time of his career.
“Finishing second in the overall rankings is good. And winning six 500m medals in one season, despite dealing with an injury in the fall, makes this one of my best seasons.” Explained Laurent Dubreuil
Yevgeniy Koshkin, of Kazakhstan, was tops in the weekend finale, clocking a golden time of 34.46. Jenning De Boo, of The Netherlands, rounded out the men’s 500-metre podium in third at 34.52.
Ivanie Blondin also got into the podium fun on Sunday, adding a silver of her own in the women’s mass start event. The three-time Olympian narrowly missed out on taking gold, finishing on the short end of a photo-finish after jostling for position against the 16-woman field.
The Ottawa resident made a courageous move on the inside corner heading into the 16th lap, catapulting her into the lead in her final spin around the oval. Blondin appeared destined for her first mass start victory of the season until Dutch rival Marijke Groenewould kicked things into a new gear down the finishing stretch, edging the Canuck out at the line.
When the dust finally settled with the two skaters stretching their skates across the finish line, Blondin was a hair off the golden mark, stopping the clock at 8:27.54. Groenewould topped her by 0.02 (8:27.52) to take the gold medal, while Mia Mangenello of the United States locked up the final spot on the podium at 8:27.62.
“I feel pretty good about the mass start. I picked a tight line coming out of the last corner and kind of fiddled my way through. Marijke just had more speed coming from the outer lane. It was a really tight finish, but exciting that way. I was really happy with my performance.” Shared Ivanie Blondin
It was the third mass start medal of the season for the 34-year-old Blondin. She battled to a bronze one week ago and a silver earlier this year at a World Cup stop in Nagano, Japan.
Blondin and teammate Anders Johnson (Burnaby, B.C.) also finished fifth overall in a chaotic mixed relay on Sunday, posting a time of 3:01.58, placing them +2.49 seconds off gold medal pace. While it was not the result the duo hoped for, they did manage to secure the overall World Cup title in the distance, which was being awarded for the very first time.
“The mixed relay is always fun. Doing those chaotic races there’s a lot of action, and in ours specifically there was a lot of dodging and having to go around people, but that’s what makes it exciting. We didn’t get on the podium today, but we got the overall win, which is pretty cool.” Said Ivanie Blondin
The Canadian squad enjoyed a solid weekend in Heerenveen. In addition to medals from Dubreuil and Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.) finished just shy of the podium in the women’s 3,000-metre test on Saturday, placing fourth, while David La Rue (Saint-Lambert, Que.) was sixth in Sunday’s men’s mass start race.
The Canadian team now travels to Hamar, Norway for the 2025 ISU World Speed Skating Single Distance Championships from March 13-16. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sports digital platforms throughout the competition.
Results
Women’s 500m-2
- Carolina Hiller: 15th
- Brooklyn McDougall: 20th
- Beatrice Lamarche: 9th (B Division)
- Rose Laliberte-Roy: 10th (B Division)
Women’s Mass Start
- Ivanie Blondin: 2nd
- Valerie Maltais: 8th
Men’s 500m-2
- Laurent Dubreuil: 2nd
- Christopher Fiola: 13th
- Anders Johnson: 2nd (B Division)
- Cedrick Brunet: 13th (B Division)
Men’s Mass Start
- David La Rue: 6th
- Jake Weidemann: 15th (B Division)
Team Events
- Mixed Relay: 5th
- Women’s Team Pursuit: 1st (B Division)
- Men’s Team Pursuit: 4th (B Division)