Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu had mentioned last Sunday, at the end of the first World Cup in Calgary, that his trio would be one to watch in the team sprint. And he wasn’t wrong.
Five days later, the Sherbrooke resident went from words to deeds with his teammates Laurent Dubreuil and Christopher Fiola, with whom he won the bronze medal in this event, still at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
“It’s still a nice surprise for us! We don’t practice that often, because it’s not an Olympic distance, but we are three good skaters and we knew we could do something good. We train together, we communicate well and the chemistry is always good. We always go there (to the team sprint) to have fun and we had a lot of it today, ”said Gélinas-Beaulieu right away in an interview with Sportcom.
Starting in the third pair of the day in this event, the Canadians did not fail to please their supporters. They completed the distance in 1 min 19.40 s to grab the provisional second place behind their rivals on the other side of the ice, the Poles, authors of a time of 1 min 18.90 s.
Maple leaf skaters then took their places in the center of the ring to watch the next eight teams perform. In the end, only the Dutch (1 min 18.93 s) managed to climb into the top 3to the amazement of the Canadians.
When we finished, we were happy with our performance despite a few small mistakes, but we weren’t expecting a podium. There were still several good teams left like the Chinese, the Norwegians and the Dutch. The more it progressed, the more we believed in it and we had a nice surprise at the end.
Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu
“It was painful, more than I remember! My legs were in compote, but it was worth it! »
A few minutes later, the three Quebecers took to the podium with their best smiles and, of course, their cowboy hats for the ceremonial photos. Celebrations followed.
“I still have the hat on my head and I think we’ll wear it at the buffet tonight while singing La Ziguezon! concluded Gélinas-Beaulieu with a laugh before returning to celebrate with his teammates.
Note that the 30-year-old athlete also took part in the 1500m and finished 16e. He will enjoy a rest day on Saturday, before returning to the ice 24 hours later for the 1000m, where he won the bronze medal last Sunday.
Valérie Maltais, Béatrice Lamarche and Rose Laliberté-Roy were also in action on the Alberta side on Friday.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Beatrice Lamarche, Maddisson Pearman and Valerie Maltais
Maltais also took the opportunity to sign a personal best in the 5000m, crossing the finish line in 7 min 0.59 s. This time gave her sixth place overall, just over 12 seconds behind Dutchman Irene Schouten (6:48.06) and the gold medal.
Norway’s Ragne Wiklund (+4.80 seconds) and Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin (+6.75 seconds) completed the podium over the distance, while Isabelle Weidemann (+12.60 seconds) finished seventh.
“I haven’t done more than 5000 meters for two years, so I’m happy to come back with a personal mark. It’s good for my 3000 (meters) and we can work on this event little by little. We learn from our latest outings, we apply the corrective measures and it gives good results like today”, commented Maltais after the session.
For their part, Béatrice Lamarche and Rose Laliberté-Roy skated in group B in the 500 m where they respectively took the 15e and 16e rungs.
Activities will resume on Saturday in Calgary, with four events scheduled. Laurent Dubreuil, who will be aiming for a third triumph in four races this season in the 500m, will be one of Canada’s headliners on the day.