(Calgary) “It paid off to beat me,” said Valérie Maltais to coach Muncef Ouardi after her sixth place finish in the 3,000m at the Calgary Speed Skating World Cup on Friday afternoon.
Paired with Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong, the skater from La Baie stepped out of her comfort zone to keep pace with the Dutchwoman, who eventually won the bronze medal in 3 min 59.319 s.
Affected by the altitude, Maltais hung on in the last two laps to stop the clock at 4 min 1.87, the fifth of her career started in 2018.
“I didn’t want to let her go, so I gave a little more than I usually do at the start of the race,” she said. I said to myself: I’m going. It was on purpose. After that was to breathe well and try to push until the end. »
She told Ouardi that she felt “a bit lifted” technically. She lost less than five seconds to the winner, Norwegian Ragne Wiklund (3 min 56.937). Marijke Groenewood of the Netherlands won silver in 3:58.893.
Franco-Ontarian Ivanie Blondin struggled until the end, but she finished just off the podium by less than half a second.
The surprise of the day was the defeat of the last pair made up of the Dutch Olympic champion Irene Schouten (7e) and the Canadian Isabelle Weidemann (11e), bronze medalist in Beijing. The two rivals seemed to observe each other in the first laps without being able to close the gap at the end.
With this sixth position, Maltais, 9e and 10e in his first two starts, equals a personal best in World Cup distance.
“It was a good race,” said the Olympic pursuit champion. It’s not my best, it’s not my worst. »
A record for Laliberté-Roy
In the morning, Rose Laliberté-Roy and Béatrice Lamarche respectively took the 10e and 11e rungs in the 500m in Group B. The first clocked a personal best of 38.82 sec.
“It’s been a long time since I had a good 500 metres,” said Laliberté-Roy. It feels good and it gives you confidence. I am practicing technical elements on my departure. I was able to implement them. I will be even more confident next week. It bodes well. »
PHOTO DAVE HOLLAND, SUPPLIED BY CANADIAN SPORT INSTITUTE CALGARY
Rose Laliberte-Roy
A little “destabilized” at her World Cup baptism last month, the athlete from Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon feels more at ease in Calgary.
“I feel like it’s getting better and better with each race. It is sure that we only have one 500 meters per weekend. It’s a bit of a “do or die”. Improving myself encourages me. So I take a lot of experience and it works the nerves too. It’s going really well and it’s up to my expectations. »
Something to fill his personal sponsor Construction Léandre Demers, of Saint-Flavien, with pride, which Laliberté-Roy displays on his team coat.