Definitely, the Salt Lake City World Cup is a smile on Canadian long track speed skaters.
Ivanie Blondin won the mass start on Sunday, winning a second gold medal in two days in Utah. She had won with the Canadian team in the team pursuit the day before.
For the men, Laurent Dubreuil went for a sixth podium in as many finals in the 500m this season, and a second bronze medal in this event this weekend, after that obtained on Friday.
At the mass start, Ivanie Blondin crossed the finish line in 8 min 31.870 s, just ahead of the Dutch Marijke Groenewoud (8 min 31.880 s). Quebecer Valérie Maltais (8 min 33.390 s) took the 13e rank.
“I’m really confident right now, and it shows on the ice,” the skater commented on a video conference.
The Ottawa woman says she is recovering from an illness that bothered her last week.
“It was really difficult mentally and physically, she said. But I put my head down, I worked hard, and it worked. I’m really happy with the way it went. ”
While she says she does not feel quite ready when it comes to individual distances for the Olympics, she believes in her means for the mass start and the team pursuit.
“These are two distances that are really solid,” she says. Our pursuit team is really strong right now, I’m really excited for the Games. And for the mass start, you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a distance where I have performed well in the past and today. I always position myself well. ”
Blondin also won silver in the same event at the World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland, in November. It therefore leads the general classification of this distance after two editions.
All fire all flame on the ice
Quebecer Laurent Dubreuil continued his sparkling start to the season. In addition to his sixth podium and his second bronze medal this weekend, he set another personal best in the 500m.
PHOTO JEFFREY SWINGER, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Laurent Dubreuil
The Lévisien broke his own mark of 34.099s set on Friday. On Sunday, he crossed the finish line in 34.053 s, just 5 hundredths of a second behind gold medalist Wataru Morishige of Japan (33.997 s). Russian Artem Arefyev (34.003 s) walked away with the silver medal.
“It’s the consistency that thrills me the most,” Dubreuil said. To be constantly on the podium. ”
“What gives me the most pleasure is my ability to have a good race every time,” he added. Even if there are small mistakes, it is to be able to be very competitive and to win medals. It’s really cool, I’m really happy. ”
The ice in Salt Lake City – and incidentally in Calgary, where next week’s World Cup will be played – is “the fastest in the world,” according to Dubreuil. No wonder personal bests have rocketed, both for men and women, this weekend.
“On ice at sea level [comme en Europe], it goes less quickly, explains the Lévisois. Skaters are more stable on the last turn at a speed they are used to. Whereas there, when you arrive in Salt Lake City, there are some who have difficulty negotiating the bends because it goes faster. They haven’t practiced it all their lives like we did in Calgary, or like the Americans in Salt Lake. A lot of times they come in and they freeze, make mistakes and take the tape. ”
This is a bit like what happened to the Russian Viktor Mushtakov and the Chinese Tingyu Gao, in particular.
“In the end, I won a medal, but if all these things hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have won today. […] It was an incredible 500m. ”
The skater leads the general classification of the event with 312 points. His closest pursuer, Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama, has accumulated 286 so far.
Laurent Dubreuil is obviously having fun on the circuit this season.
“My floor is high, so unless I make a major mistake, I’m going to have a good result,” he says. After that, it’s either good or very good. It is really fun and encouraging. These are more pleasant seasons. ”