Canada’s Blondin earns two gold medals at Four Continents speedskating championships

SALT LAKE CITY – Canada’s Ivanie Blondin picked up two gold medals on Sunday at the Four Continents speedskating championships.

Blondin won the women’s team pursuit alongside Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann with a time of two minutes 54.02 seconds. Japan (2:57.54) and the U.S. (3:04.32) rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.

Blondin then followed it up with gold in the women’s mass start, crossing the finish line in 8:42.56. The Ottawa native topped American Giorgia Birkeland (8:44.65) and Japan’s Kyoko Nitta (8:47.19).

The women’s gold was one of two team pursuit medals on the day for Canada.

Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, Hayden Mayeur and Connor Howe stopped the clock at 3:36.84 to take silver, having narrowly missed out on gold. The U.S. stood atop the podium with a time of 3:36.80, while Japan (3:42.08) earned bronze.

Gelinas-Beaulieu, of Sherbrooke, Que., then earned a bronze medal in the men’s mass start, finishing in 8:16.46. Jae-Won Chung of Kora won the race in 8:16.33, while Shomu Sasaki of Japan finished second in 8:16.43.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2024.