Quebecers Laurent Dubreuil and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu shone in the 1,000 meters by winning silver and bronze respectively at the Calgary Long Track Speed Skating World Cup on Sunday.
Dutchman Hein Otterspear posted a winning time of one minute and 7.284 seconds. Dubreuil finished just two hundredths of a second behind.
Dubreuil, who won the men’s 500 on Saturday, was quickest by half a second at the 600-metre mark, but he couldn’t keep up the pace on the home stretch.
The Lévisien is the reigning Olympic vice-champion in this event.
Gélinas-Beaulieu (1:07.32) earned her first career World Cup podium in an individual event.
The 30-year-old Sherbrooke resident also helped Canada win silver in the team pursuit on Friday.
Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin was stripped of her third-place finish in the women’s mass start event when officials disqualified her for an infraction.
The Olympic silver medalist in this event was found guilty of slowing down a competitor when she changed lanes at the start of the race.
Dutch Irene Schouten and Marijke Groenewoud finished first and third respectively while American Mia Kilburg took silver.
Italian Andrea Giovannini (7:53.04) won the men’s mass start, ahead of New Zealander Peter Michael (7:55.62) and Kazakh Vitaliy Chshigolev (7:55.85).
Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands (1:12.82) won her third race in the women’s 1000m in as many races this season. American Kim Goetz (1:13.53) took silver while Austrian Vanessa Herzog (1:13.56) completed the podium.
The Canadian team, host of the competition, won five medals, including two gold, at the first of two consecutive World Cup speed skating stops at the Calgary site. Three more days of competition will begin on Friday.