In order to get out of her comfort zone, Franco-Ontarian speed skater Ivanie Blondin found a new way to push her limits. After 13 years in the national long track program, the 33-year-old athlete will participate in the Canadian Short Track Speed Skating Championships which will take place from Friday to Sunday in Montreal.
The Ottawa native will then have very little time to prepare for the Canadian Long Track Speed Skating Championships, which will be held a week later in Calgary.
She trains in both disciplines, which require very different blades, techniques and sacrifices to the body. “I like challenges, so I think this is exactly what I needed,” Blondin told The Canadian Press. It seems like people look at me and say “you’re crazy”. But that’s what motivates me. »
In 2022, Blondin won gold in the team pursuit at the Beijing Olympics with her teammates Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais, as well as the silver medal in the mass start.
Faced with another interminable four-year Olympic cycle around the Calgary oval before the Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, in 2026, Blondin made no secret that she was looking for a spark to get back on track. “After I got a gold and silver medal at the Olympics, I came home and was like ‘hey, what do I do now?’ What is my next goal?” “, she explained.
Blondin competed in the Canadian Road Cycling Championships in 2022 and 2023, and finished ninth in his first appearance.
The Canadian athlete is therefore back to her first love, as she skated with the national team in Montreal before opting for the long blades and heading to Calgary in 2010. The long track team is trains in short track during the summer, when the ice on the oval melts.
“The training was very, very good,” said Blondin. If you don’t try it, then you don’t know what might happen, and I had nothing to lose. »
Combining short and long track workouts in the same morning pushed his physical limits, of course. “It was a bit too much, because I was doing two full programs in a row. »
The Maurice-Richard Arena will also host the first two stops of the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup, from October 20 to 22, then from October 27 to 29.
“Relearn everything”
Blondin is aware that she will have a lot of work to do to climb into the top six overall at the Canadian Short Track Championships, given the depth and quality of skaters in the country, but she wants to continue her training in both disciplines in order to to test its limits. “I’m a little nervous to find myself in Montreal again, after 13 years,” she admitted. I have to relearn everything. Short track has changed so much as a discipline since the time I was involved in it. »
“The regulations are different. The equipment is different. I have to relearn everything, but it’s super fun. »
If she performs well in short track, then she has not ruled out the possibility of competing in both disciplines at the Olympics. This feat has been accomplished before.
Latvia’s Haralds Silovs competed in the 1500m short track and 5000m long track races on the same day at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Dutchwoman Jorien ter Mors won gold in the long track 1000m and bronze in the short track relay in 2018.
Blondin, however, has no illusions about the duration of this new experience. “The next Winter Olympics will probably be my last,” she said. It’s fun to take on new challenges and push my physical and psychological limits. »