Blondin only the fifth Canadian women to reach the podium at the event
| Credit: International Skating Union |
HAMAR, NORWAY – After dominating in multiple distances all season, Ivanie Blondin was crowned vice-champion at the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships on Sunday, finishing second in the overall standings in Hamar, Norway.
The 29-year old Ottawa native becomes the first Canadian women to reach the overall podium at the event since Christine Nesbitt in 2012. She joins Nesbitt, Cindy Klassen, Kristina Groves and Sylvia Burka as the only Canadians to earn a medal at the competition, which has been taking place since 1936.
Blondin finished the competition with a cumulative time of 160.462, which put her 9.38 seconds behind world champion Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands. She followed up a second-place finish in the 3000m (4:02.54) and eighth in the 500m (39.19) on Saturday with fifth in the 1500m (1:55.21) and fourth in the 5000m (7:04.46) on Sunday.
Wüst was crowned World Allround Champion for the seventh time in her career, posting a total time of 159.524 and reaching the podium in three of four distances. Fellow Dutch skater Antoinette de Jong (160.631, +11.07) finished in bronze medal position behind Blondin.
On the men’s side, Ted-Jan Bloemen (Calgary, Alta.) was the top Canadian in seventh-place overall, while teammate Jordan Belchos (Toronto, Ont.) earned a career-best eighth-place result at the competition, surpassing his previous best of 17th overall from last season.
Patrick Roest of the Netherlands earned his third consecutive World Allround Championship title with a combined time of 147.880, ahead of Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway (149.277, +27.94) and Seitaro Ichinohe of Japan (149.310, +28.60).
The Canadian long track team concludes their season at next weekend’s ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final in Heerenveen, Netherlands. CBC Sports will have live streaming coverage throughout the competition, including highlights from the first day of races during their ‘Road to the Olympic Games’ program, available both online and on television at 3:00pm local time.
“I’m pretty happy with the end result and with this weekend overall! It’s always been a dream of mine to reach the podium at the World Allround Championships. My 1500m didn’t go super great, and I almost fell in the 5000m, but it’s a learning process. I think I showed consistency to finish second overall, and while today wasn’t great, I’m looking forward to when Allrounds comes around again.” – Ivanie Blondin
“I never thought I would be eighth overall at the World Allround, so I’m definitely happy with it! Allrounds were never really a priority of mine but knowing that they were going to be in Norway and how special it would be with the crowd and the atmosphere, I really wanted to come just have fun and see what I could do. It was for sure a goal of mine to get into the 10,000m. I knew I had to have a good 1500m to get in. I had a good 5000m yesterday and just built on that for the 1500m. The pressure of the moment and atmosphere of the 1500m was super fun for me and I never really get to experience that in a race. And then in the 10,000m I just did the best I could.” – Jordan Belchos
RESULTS
- Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.): 2nd Overall (8th in 500m, 2nd in 3000m, 5th in 1500m, 4th in 5000m)
- Ted-Jan Bloemen (Calgary, Alta.): 7th Overall (21st in 500m, 5th in 5000m, 16th in 1500m, 6th in 10000m)
- Jordan Belchos (Toronto, Ont.): 8th Overall (23rd in 500m, 3rd in 5000m, 13th in 1500m, 4th in 10000m)
- Tyson Langelaar (Winnipeg, Man.): 13th Overall (2nd in 500m, 21st in 5000m, 11th in 1500m)
- Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.): 14th Overall (22nd in 500m, 6th in 3000m, 12th in 1500m)
- Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.): 17th Overall (17th in 500m, 15th in 3000m, 18th in 1500m)
| MEDIA CONTACT Alain Brouillette Speed Skating Canada communications@speedskating.ca 613-601-2630 |
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RESOURCES Information Schedule Results Photos |