Speed Skating Canada – Senior team aims to build on early successes in Tomakomai while Canadian neo-seniors skate in Tomaszów Mazowiecki

 

Ivanie Blondin, of Ottawa, ON, during warmups at the ISU long track speed skating world cup at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta on December 1, 2017

(Photo by Dave Holland, CSI Calgary Photos)

 

TOMAKOMAI, JAPAN – For the first time in a decade, the Canadian long track speed skating team will compete on outdoor ice during a World Cup, as they make their second stop on this season’s circuit in Tomakomai, Japan. The competition runs from November 23-25 and will see eleven Canadian skaters in action, looking to build on the one medal and eleven top 10 results they earned last weekend.

 

The competition follows the same program as World Cup #1 in Obihiro and gets underway Friday with the 500m(1) and team pursuit finals, as well as the semifinals for the mass start. The 500m(2), 1500m and mass start finals will take place on Saturday, while those for the 1000m, 3000m (ladies), 5000m (men’s) and team sprint are set for Sunday.

 

Individual skaters to keep an eye on this weekend include Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann, along with Laurent Dubreuil of Lévis, Que.

 

Blondin, a six-time medalist on last season’s World Cup circuit, finished fourth in the 3000m and fifth in the ladies’ mass start last weekend. Dubreuil placed fifth and ninth in the men’s 500m races and seventh in the men’s 1000m, while Weidemann earned two top 10 results of her own. All three skaters will look to improve on their results and earn their first medal of the season.

 

Canadian skaters will also have their sights set on the podium in the team events at the Tomakomai Highland Sports Centre.

 

Dubreuil and his Quebecois teammates Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke and Christopher Fiola of Montreal will look to remain near the top after capturing the bronze medal in the men’s sprint last weekend. Meanwhile, the men’s team pursuit (5^th), ladies’ team sprint (5^th) and ladies’ team pursuit (4^th) will look for even better finishes.

 

CBC Sports and Radio-Canada will be live streaming the competition on Saturday (1:30AM ET) and Sunday (12:30AM ET). A detailed event schedule, along with live results, can be found on the ISU Results Portal.

 

Neo-Seniors in action in Poland

Another six Canadian skaters will compete in their first international event of the season this weekend during the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. The team of neo-senior athletes – those aged 19 to 22 – are looking to gain international competition experience as part of their development plans.

 

Leading the ladies’ side is Noémie Fiset of Quebec City, Que., a skater with six World Cups under her belt, including a bronze medal performance in the team sprint from 2015-16. Joining her are Béatrice Lamarche, also of Quebec City, a two-time World Cup participant and triple-medalist in the mass start at the World Junior Championships, along with Abigail McCluskey of Calgary, Alta., who is participating in her first World Cup event.

 

On the men’s team, Tyson Langelaar of Winnipeg, Man., Hayden Mayeur of Toronto, Ont. and Jake Weidemann of Ottawa, Ont. will all make their World Cup debut this weekend. Langelaar is the reigning Canadian Junior Champion and ranked second overall at last year’s World Junior Championships.

 

Please see below the full list of athletes, in alphabetical order by last name, and the races they will be skating in this weekend. A biography of each athlete can be found at www.speedskating.ca/teams/long-track.

 

Ladies Team

• BLONDIN, Ivanie – 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start
• IRVINE, Kaylin – 500m(1), 500m(2), 1000m
• MCLEAN, Heather – 500m(1), 500m(2), 1000m
• MORRISON, Keri – 1500m, 3000m
• WEIDEMANN, Isabelle – 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start

 

Men’s Team

• BELCHOS, Jordan – 1500m, 5000m, Mass Start
• BLOEMEN, Ted-Jan – 1500m, 5000m
• DUBREUIL, Laurent – 500m(1), 500m(2), 1000m
• FIOLA, Christopher – 500m(1), 500m(2), 1000m 
• GÉLINAS-BEAULIEU, Antoine – 1000m, 1500m, 5000m
• LA RUE, David – 500m(1), 500m(2), 1000m, 1500m

 

Ladies Team (Neo-Senior)

• FISET, Noémie – 500m, 1000m, 1500m
• LAMARCHE, Béatrice – 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start
• MCCLUSKEY, Abigail – 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start

 

Men’s Team (Neo-Senior)

• LANGELAAR, Tyson – 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start
• MAYEUR, Hayden – 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start
• WEIDEMANN, Jake – 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Mass Start

 

 

Media:

Nicole Espenant

Speed Skating Canada

Email: communications@speedskating.ca

Phone: 613-797-1630