(Tomaszów Mazowiecki) Canadian long track speed skaters Ivanie Blondin, Brooklyn McDougall and Carolina Hiller cruised to their third World Cup silver medal of the season in the team sprint on Saturday in Poland.
The trio clocked 1:28.73 to finish second, which they also achieved earlier this season in Heerenveen and Calgary.
The Americans won gold in 1:27.92, their second in a row, while China took bronze (1:29.51).
“I’m so grateful to be on the podium again with Ivanie and Carolina,” said McDougall.
“Each race we are learning better and better how to skate together, which has helped us gain confidence. We can’t wait to see what we can do at the World Championships,” added the 24-year-old Albertan.
Saturday’s results put the United States (168) narrowly ahead of Canada (162) in the overall World Cup standings in the discipline, just six points ahead of their North American rivals.
Blondin and Laurent Dubreuil also found a place in the top 10 of their respective individual distances on Saturday. Blondin was seventh in the 1,500 metres, while Dubreuil was sixth in the 500 metres.
Although he did not reach the podium, the athlete from Lévis finished first in the general classification of the World Cup in this distance by a gap of 20 points over his friend and rival, the Japanese Yuma Murakami.
The final leg of the long track speed skating World Cup season will wrap up on Sunday, as medals and overall titles will be awarded in the men’s and women’s 1,000 meters and mass start.