Long track speed skater Valérie Maltais came within two seconds of winning a second medal at the World Cup in Stavanger, Norway. The Quebecer gave everything in the 5000 m and finally placed fourth in this long event “which [lui] is scary”, Sunday.
When we say “given everything”, it is because Maltais was seeing double while he still had six laps to go, or half the full distance.
“I knew I was close to the podium, but when I finished, I didn’t know exactly where I was. It was blackout, but we continue! » said in an interview the one who posted a time of 7 min 5.6 s (+6 seconds).
The Czech Martina Sablikova won in 6 min 59.6 s, while the Dutch Marijke Groenewoud (+3.67 seconds) and the Norwegian Ragne Wiklund (+4 seconds) accompanied her on the podium.
“It’s an ordeal that scares me, quite honestly! Twelve and a half laps, 25 turns, it’s a distance that I’m learning to do better and better and that I’ve been working on,” mentioned Valérie Maltais, decorated with bronze on Friday in the mass start.
On Saturday, the athlete from La Baie felt more tired and ranked 11e at 1500 m. She decided to call her teammate Isabelle Weidemann in the evening, who was away at the World Cup in Stavanger. The words of the 5000m silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics calmed her down.
She recovered as much as possible and was feeling strong before Sunday’s race. By being part of the last pair alongside Wiklund, eventual bronze medalist, Valérie Maltais was able to see where her opponents were for this first 5000m of the World Cup season.
“When I saw the times, I went to the starting line with confidence. The more things went, the more I felt like I could do something good,” she added.
After watching her race, Maltais believes she will be able to improve her start in anticipation of the next 5000m, which will take place at the World Championships.
“I saw that I was a little on my guard at the beginning. Wiklund had more fire and that’s something I can do better. Being more active could get me on the podium. »
For his part, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu concluded the Stavanger World Cup by skating the 1500m on Sunday. He clocked 1:48.08 and finished 18e rank.
Long track speed skaters will return to action next weekend in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.
Team sprint bronze for Canada
Canadians Ivanie Blondin, Carolina Hiller and Maddison Pearman won bronze in the team sprint at the Speed Skating World Cup on Sunday.
They completed the three-lap sprint in 1:28.34.
Blondin shone in the last lap and Canada finished close to the Dutch, silver medalists in 1:28.17.
Blondin is from Ottawa, Hiller from Prince George and Pearman from Ponoka, Alberta.
The Americans triumphed in 1:27.92.
The podium was Canada’s second this season in the women’s team sprint, following silver at the World Cup last month in Beijing.
Hiller replaced Brooklyn McDougall of Calgary, who competed in China.
On the men’s side, Josh Telizyn (Fort St-John, British Columbia), Anders Johnson (Calgary) and Vincent De Haître (Cumberland, Ontario) took fifth place in the team sprint.
With The Canadian Press