Isabelle Weidemann, Valérie Maltais and Connor Howe also break into top 10 on opening day of racing in Calgary
ALGARY, ALBERTA – The ISU World Cup Speed Skating got underway in Calgary on Friday, with Canadian skaters earning four top 10 results and setting six new personal bests during racing action at the Olympic Oval.
Béatrice Lamarche (Quebec City, Que.) earned a career-best result in the women’s 1000m, finishing the distance ranked eighth overall after posting a new personal best time of 1:14.79. The finish eclipsed her previous career high of 14th, achieved at the Thialf in Heerenveen in 2021. Japan’s Miho Takagi (1:13.10) earned gold in the distance, ahead of Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands (+0.36) and Mei Han of China (+0.48).
“I honestly can’t believe it! I was hoping to have a good race today, but I didn’t have any expectations in terms of ranking or time. This clearly surpassed my what I imagined was possible. I am really proud – it was not only my fastest race, but also my fastest 100m opener by quite a bit, just need a bit of work on my final lap. I am really happy to get back to racing well in the 1000m. It was a tough distance the past few years, so I’m happy we’ve had a breakthrough.”Beatrice Lamarche
A pair of Canadians cracked the top 10 in the women’s 5000m, with Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.) finishing the day’s longest distance fifth (+7.89), ahead of teammate Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.), who was eighth overall thanks to a new personal best time of 6:57.76. The victory went to Joy Beune of the Netherlands, whose personal best time of 6:45.76 placed her ahead of country mate Merel Conijn (+1.68) and Martina Sáblíková of Czechia (+3.25).
“Honestly, I felt like I fought it from the opener today, but I just tried to empty everything I had. I feel a bit disappointed, but I guess today that was all I had. The 5000m felt a bit too long today to be honest. I felt tired this week and I think that was reflected in the way that I raced. We have to go back to the drawing board a bit and find out where we strayed away from the plan.”
Isabelle Weidemann
In addition to Lamarche and Maltais, four other Canadian women set new personal bests throughout the first day of competition, which included new marks by Laura Hall (7:03.35) and Rose-Anne Grenier (7:08.48) in the 5000m, as well as Rose Laliberte-Roy (1:15.72) and Brooklyn McDougall (1:16.00) in the 1000m.
On the men’s side, American phenom Jordan Stolz captured his third consecutive World Cup gold of the season in the 1500m, breaking the Olympic Oval track record with a time of 1:41.22. China’s Zhongyan Ning was second (+1.02), slightly edging out Norway’s Peder Kongshaug (+1.03). Canada’s Connor Howe (Canmore, Alta.) finished eighth with a time of 1:43.37.
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating continues tomorrow, where Canadians will look to reach the podium in the men’s 1000m and 10,000m, as well as the women’s 1500m. Races will be live streamed on CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sport platforms.
Tickets for the event can be purchased online at www.speedskating.ca/calgary2025, for as low as $10 for general admission and $30 for premium seats.
Results
Women’s 5000m
- Isabelle Weidemann: 5th
- Valérie Maltais: 8th
- Ivanie Blondin: 11th
- Laura Hall: 3rd (Division B)
- Rose-Anne Grenier: 11th (Division B)
Men’s 1500m
- Connor Howe: 8th
- David La Rue: 4th (Division B)
- Jake Weidemann: 11th (Division B)
- Max Halyk: 18th (Division B)
- Luca Veeman: 22nd (Division B)
Women’s 1000m
- Béatrice Lamarche: 8th
- Rose Laliberte-Roy: 9th (Division B)
- Brooklyn McDougall: 13th (Division B)
- Maddison Pearman: 16th (Division B)
- Abigail McCluskey: 17th (Division B)
CONTACT
Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
communications@speedskating.ca
613-601-2630
RESOURCES
Website
Results
Photos
Live Streaming