It did not take lengthy for the Olympic gold medal-winning trio of Valerie Maltais, Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin to get again on high of the rostrum.
The Canadian squad claimed the highest spot within the ladies’s group pursuit occasion on the ISU World Cup Velocity Skating Saturday in Stavanger, Norway — the primary of six World Cup occasions scheduled for the season.
Weidemann and Blondin, each from Ottawa, and Maltais of Saguenay, Que., posted a time of three minutes 01.810 seconds to edge the Dutch group by 0.48 seconds. Japan earned bronze ending 1.09 seconds behind Canada.
“We’ve not been coaching collectively as a lot for the group pursuit, so we have been all a bit nervous going into the race,” stated Blondin. “Nevertheless it’s like we’ve not skipped a beat and it was very nice to get again collectively and present what we will do. It wasn’t a clear race, but it surely’s a fantastic consequence and now we’ll preserve constructing for the subsequent one.”
WATCH l Blondin, Maltais, Weidemann race to ladies’s group pursuit gold:
The Canadian squad of Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann clocked in with a time of three:01.810 to put 1st within the ladies’s group pursuit competitors on the ISU World Cup Velocity Skating occasion in Stavanger.
In February, the trio grabbed Canada’s 1st-ever Olympic gold in group pursuit with an Olympic report time of two:53.44.
The 32-year-old Blondin narrowly missed the rostrum within the 1500-metre occasion earlier on Saturday, ending 0.06 seconds behind third-place Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands.
World record-holder Miho Takagi of Japan received the occasion.
The group pursuit gold marks the second medal of the season for Ottawa, Ont., native Weidemann, who received bronze within the ladies’s 3000-metre occasion on Friday.
Blondin, who additionally hails from Ottawa, and Maltais of Saguenay, Que., additionally secured top-10 finishes within the occasion.
Dubreuil wins silver
Quebec Metropolis’s Laurent Dubreuil began his season with a robust efficiency.
Dubreuil ending simply 0.05 behind gold medallist Yuma Murakami of Japan. South Korea’s Jun-Ho Kim rounded out the rostrum.
“I’m clearly pleased to start out the season with a podium. It is clear that I might have most popular the gold medal, particularly being solely 5 hundredths of a second off the tempo and approach forward of bronze. It was actually a two-person battle with Yuma [Murakami],” stated Dubreuil.
“I wasn’t far, however when he opens with a 9.44 and I do 9.74, it’s extremely laborious to then catch up three tenths of a second within the full lap. My begin must be extra explosive so I can get off the road sooner. However it is a nice begin to to the season.”
WATCH | Dubreuil skates to silver medal:
The 30-year-old Levis, Que. native completed with a time of 34.750 within the males’s 500-metre competitors on the ISU World Cup Velocity Skating occasion in Stavanger.
Christopher Fiola, additionally from Quebec Metropolis, completed seventh within the 500m on Saturday.
Graeme Fish was the lone high 10-finisher for Canada within the males’s 5000m. The Moose Jaw, Sask., native crossed the end line with a time of 6:31.263 to take tenth place.
