Canadian Blondin captures bronze medal in speedskating mass start

TOMAKOMAI, Japan – Ivanie Blondin skated to a bronze medal in the women’s mass start final at the ISU World Cup speedskating stop on Saturday.

It was the Ottawa native’s second podium finish of the event. She also captured silver in the team pursuit on the opening day of competition.

Blondin’s final time of 8:82.260 — 0.8 seconds behind gold medalist Bo-Reum Kim of South Korea.

Isabelle Weidemann, also of Ottawa, finished 14th with a time of 8:55.900. On the men’s side, Jordan Belchos of Toronto clocked in at 8:16.890 en route to a ninth-place finish.

Blondin, a two-time Olympian and the 2015-16 world champion in the mass start, neared the front heading into the last laps at the Tomakomai Highland Sports Center, and a well calculated sprint out of the final corner propelled her into third position.

“It was a really fun race,” Blondin said. “Isabelle and I both had our elbows out and were protecting each other. We’re using this as a team event and trying to help one another throughout the race. I think that was very well executed. I might be the only one standing on the podium today, but it’s also thanks to Isabelle that I earned this medal.”

In the men’s 1,500 metres, Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke, Que., and David La Rue of Saint-Lambert, Que., skated to 15th (1:50.444) and 18th (1:51.012) place finishes, respectively. Long-distance specialist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary posted a time of 1:55.540 (17th) in Division B.

Keri Morrison of Burlington, Ont. was the lone Canadian woman in the 1,500 on Saturday, finishing 20th.