Canada showed character and won gold in the women’s team pursuit event at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday.
Down about four tenths of a second with one lap to go, Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann took advantage of a fall by a Japanese woman to give Canada a second gold medal in Beijing.
And they did it big.
As Weidemann took over to take the lead in the closing laps, Canada quietly closed its gap to the Japanese and crossed the finish line in an Olympic record time of 2:53.44.
The Canadians trailed the entire race, but on the final corner a Japanese skater lost her balance and fell into the crash pads.
After getting up, the Japanese woman stopped the clock at 3:04.47 to confirm the silver medal in Japan.
Canada’s win earned Weidemann a third medal at the Beijing Games. She won silver in the 5,000 meters and added bronze in the 3,000 meters.
The Dutch, who Canada had defeated in the semi-finals, took the bronze medal after defeating the Russian Olympic Committee skaters.
The Canadian trio had to work a little harder than the Japanese to confirm their place in the final. In their semi-final, Maltais, Blondin and Weidemann clocked 2:54.96 to beat the Dutch by 98 hundredths of a second.
For their part, the Japanese did not really have to force against the Russians, presenting a winning time much slower than that of the Canadians (2:58.93).