Canada’s Ivanie Blondin won silver in the women’s mass start event on Saturday at the World Long Track Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Entered in the fourth and final event of the day, Blondin somehow saved the day for Canada, which had not placed any of its competitors even at the foot of a podium in the three previous races.
Blondin also stood on the podium for the third time in as many days, following her gold medals in the team sprint on Thursday and in the team pursuit on Friday.
Blondin, a 32-year-old athlete from Ottawa, stopped the clock at eight minutes 34.19 seconds to squeeze onto the podium between two Dutch women.
Marijke Groenewoud won the gold medal in 8:19.36, almost 15 seconds behind the Canadian. Moreover, the gap between Blondin and Irene Schouten was only 18 hundredths of a second.
“I made a mistake thinking that Marijke wouldn’t attack right away, and the game was pretty much over from then on. It’s a shame because I think I could have won the title if I hadn’t let it happen”, analyzed Blondin.
Quebecer Valérie Maltais finished eighth in this event.
Three Canadians competed in the men’s 1,000 meters final with Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu posting the best performance with a seventh-place finish in 1:08.73.
Laurent Dubreuil (1:08.90) had to settle for 11th place and Vincent De Haître (1:10.29), 23rd.
Over the same distance in women’s competition, Maddison Pearman, the lone Canadian, finished 18th in 1:17.20.
Registered in the second wave of the event, Pearman found herself alone on the track in the absence of the Swiss Kaitlyn McGregor.
On the men’s side, Connor Howe finished 14th in the mass start.