Blondin wins gold, Dubreuil claims silver to start World Cup speed skating season

Ivanie Blondin claimed a gold medal in the women’s 3000m event Saturday in Nagano, Japan, marking another podium finish for Canada at the first event of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Season.

On Friday, sprint star Laurent Dubreuil kicked things off for Canada with a silver medal in the 500m.

Blondin led her race from start to finish, posting the fastest split time for each lap en route to a final time of 4:03.76. The 34-year-old skated in the third pair and waited to claim her medal, finishing 0.84 seconds ahead of Norway’s Ragne Wiklund.

It’s been a busy weekend for the versatile Blondin, who cracked the top 10 in the women’s 1000m just a few hours after her gold-medal performance in the 3,000m. On Friday, she placed fifth in the 1500m with a time of 1:55.65, just 0.07 of a second out of a podium position.

“I am trying new things and having a lot of fun during training, and I think that being more relaxed is paying off on the ice,” said Blondin.

Dubreuil, who finished second overall in last season’s 500m World Cup standings and won silver in the event at the World Single Distances Championships, skated to a time of 34.58 seconds at the first of six World Cup stops for the season.

In the second last pairing, Dubreuil had his eyes on the leading time of 34.43 seconds that had been posted by reigning world champion Jordan Stolz of the United States, but finished 0.15 of a second back. The Canadian just edged out Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama for the second spot on the podium by three one-thousandths (0.003) of a second.

“I am really happy with my race today, ” Dubreuil said Friday. “It wasn’t a perfect race by any means, but I’d say that it was quite good. The start was a bit slower than last week, but this was my first time skating a lap under 25 seconds at sea level this year. I know there is a tenth or two to be gained out there, so hopefully I can find that speed for the next 500m this Sunday.”

Dubreuil opened his international season last weekend with a silver medal in the 500m at the ISU Four Continents Championships, sandwiched between the same two competitors.

Competition continues throughout the weekend. Sunday will feature the team pursuits, the mass starts, and a second set of 500m races.