Bartlema Photography
October 20, 2024
The Canadian long track speed skating world had its eyes on Quebec this week, as the city hosted the 2024 Canadian Long Track Championships. After a competition filled with noteworthy performances, it was Ivanie Blondin who stole the show , with four medals, including three gold.
The Ontarian started strong with a first gold medal in the women’s 3000m event on Thursday. Her time of 4:10.038 allowed her to beat Valérie Maltais in second place (4:11.326) while Laura Hall completed the podium with a time of 4:12.143.
“It was a little slower than I would have liked. I made a small mistake when I wanted to take advantage of the slipstream and I lost a little speed at that moment,” said Blondin, in an interview with Speed Skating Canada. “I was a little lazy in my approach because I have so many races to do this week. But I’m happy with the result in the end and I managed to do what I set out to do. It was my first full race in the 3000m this season and I will look to build on that for the future. »
It was the second medal of the day for Blondin, who had won bronze in the 500m, in a race won by Carolina Hiller.
The 34-year-old skater continued her momentum the next day with a victory in the 1000m, ahead of Béatrice Lamarche and Maddison Pearman. Already assured of a place in the World Cup with her gold medal acquired the day before in the 3000 m, Blondin decided to skip the 5000 m, just like her compatriot Valérie Maltais.
The door was therefore open for Laura Hall, who won her first career national championship title with a time of 7:19.645. Abigail McCluskey took the silver medal (7:20.160) while Laurie Cayer took the final step of the podium with a time of 7:24.188.
Blondin didn’t stop there as she added to it on Saturday, winning a third gold medal in three days, this time in the 1500m. Her time of 1:56.966 placed her ahead of Valérie Maltais for the second time in the competition. The two teammates in the team pursuit finished in the same order in the 3000m on Thursday. The 1500m podium was completed by Béatrice Lamarche.
Maltais finally got his hands on a gold medal during the last day of competition in the mass start, after having obtained two silver medals in the previous days. The Quebecer completed a very close race in 9:34.272, which placed her ahead of another Quebecer, Gabrielle Jelonek (9:34.272), and Darby Beeson (9:34.441)
For the men, Graeme Fish started the competition with confidence by first winning gold on Thursday in the 5000m. His time of 6:21.793 allowed him to beat Daniel Hall (6:32.403) and Connor Howe (6:41.150). His first victory since 2019 in his pocket, Fish did it again the next day by crossing the finish line first in the 10,000m with almost a minute ahead of his closest pursuer. His time of 12:58.414 put him ahead of Daniel Hall (13:48.799) and Connor Waters (14:13.529).
“I felt pretty strong today. It’s always nice to go out on the ice and have a good performance,” Fish told Speed Skating Canada. “Basically, my goals today were to execute my race plan well and implement the things I had been trying to improve on in training, and I think I was able to do that. I hope to build on this and continue to skate better and better with each passing day. »
Connor Howe imitated his compatriot with two gold medals too. His first was won on Friday in the 1000m, ahead of Laurent Dubreuil and Anders Johnson. The next day, he won the 1500m ahead of David La Rue and Tyson Langelaar.
In the 500 m, it was no surprise that Laurent Dubreuil won the gold medal, a fifth in a row at this stage at the Canadian championships. He beat Yankun Zhao and Anders Johnson. The competition closed with the men’s mass start, won by Hayden Mayeur, followed by Max Halyk and Jack Deibert.
Remember that the headliners Isabelle Weidemann and Ted-Jan Bloemen were absent from the competition, they who had already qualified for the Fall World Cups. The first stage of the Long Track Speed Skating World Cup will take place in Nagano, Japan, from November 22 to 24.
