HAMAR, NORWAY – Canada’s long track speed skaters added a silver and bronze to double the team’s medal count at the 2025 ISU World Speed Skating Championships on Sunday in Hamar, Norway. Ivanie Blondin jumped onto the podium for the third time this weekend at the premier event on the speed skating calendar in a non-Olympic year, snagging silver in the women’s mass start event. Connor Howe finally mixed together a perfect 1500m race when it counted most to secure the bronze medal.
Blondin, a three-time Olympian, finished in the silver-medal position for the second-straight weekend after mixing it up with the best 24-women in the action-packed mass start race.
The Ottawa resident stayed out of trouble, bouncing positions in the top half of the pack for the 16-lap test where she methodically edged her way towards the front of the group for the back half of the race. The feisty Canuck took the bell lap in fourth spot where she quickly bolted into second position in the sprint finish, stopping the clock at 8:23.37.
“It was a solid race. I didn’t really have the legs for the final sprint. I wasn’t being defensive at all, so it was difficult making my way through. At one point I was a bit further back with two laps left because there was some bumping happening which is usual. I am still happy with the outcome and how I was feeling all week. I just didn’t feel like I was tip top today,” said Ivanie Blondin.
Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands bettered Blondin for the second-straight week, claiming the World Championship title with a winning time of 8:23.17. Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida was third at 8:23.58.
“It makes it a lot easier losing to Marijke because she is such a sweetheart, and we are really good friends. We did a little bike ride together last week and had coffee. It has been a long week and season. I don’t want to make excuses, but I think it maybe was not the best preparation for Worlds for myself. I may have done too much altitude too close. We are always learning our bodies and that is part of the sport,” shared Ivanie Blondin.
It was the fourth mass start medal of the season for the 34-year-old Blondin. She battled to a bronze two weeks ago and a silver earlier this year at a World Cup stop in Nagano, Japan before her second-place finish last weekend in The Netherlands.
Earlier in the day, Howe celebrated a bronze-medal breakthrough at the World Championships in the men’s 1500m race. It was the first World Championship medal of his six-year career on the senior National Team.
The 24-year-old exercised his race plan to near perfection – strong starts, pacing, technique and mental drive. Competing in the outside lane in the eighth of 12 heats, Howe clocked a solid time of 1:44.78 in his four laps around the Hamar Olympic Hall. He was on a fifth-place pace until the final lap where he kicked into high gear. Howe was then left to wait and see if the rest of the world could catch him.
“I am really happy. It’s been a few years that I felt like I had the potential, but it never would come together at the right moment so I’m happy it finally came together. All week I have been focusing on my start because it has been a bit off. I got off the line well today. I was able to save the energy and keep the speed in that last lap. It’s always a bit stressful sitting there watching. I thought it (the time) would hold up decently. It was close between the top three so it could have gone either way,” said Connor Howe.
Howe was dropped into second place by Norwegian Peder Kongshaug, who was crowned World Champion after posting a golden time of 1:44.64. American, Jordan Stolz, bumped the Canuck into the bronze-medal position in the final heat. Stolz stopped the clock at 1:44.71.
It was a dream race for Canada’s Howe who had five, top-10 World Cup finishes in 1,500-metre action this year. His best result in the middle-distance race came last weekend when he was sixth in Heerenveen, NED.
“I am a little bit surprised. I knew it would be a stretch today, but I knew my skating has been slowly getting better this year. I had a slow start (to the year) which was a bit frustrating because I knew I had it in me, but it wasn’t quite coming, so I’m happy that I finished on a high like this,” mentionned Connor Howe.
The bronze-medal triumph capped off a solid World Championship performance for the Canadian squad who celebrated four medals. The Canadian women’s trio of Brooklyn McDougall, Béatrice Lamarche and Ivanie Blondin blazed a trail to the podium for the Canucks with a silver medal in the Team Sprint race on Thursday. Blondin then joined forces with Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais to claim a bronze in the women’s Team Pursuit on Friday. Team Canada also had a couple of near podium misses. Laurent Dubreuil was fourth in the men’s 500-metre test, while Weidemann was edged off the podium in the women’s 5,000-metre event.
Results
Women’s 1500m
- Ivanie Blondin: 8th
- Valérie Maltais: 13th
- Laura Hall: 23rd
Women’s Mass Start
- Ivanie Blondin: 2nd
- Valérie Maltais: 8th
Men’s 1500m
- Connor Howe: 3rd
- David La Rue: 16th
Men’s 10,000m
- Ted-Jan Bloemen: 6th
- Graeme Fish: 11th
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630