Canada’s Ivanie Blondin world champion in mass start at single distance worlds

KOLOMNA, Russia – Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin won the world championship title in the women’s mass start and Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, Que., earned a bronze in the second 500 metre race on Sunday at the world single distance championships.

Blondin earned gold in the mass start, beating South Korea’s Bo-Reum Kim and Japan’s Miho Takagi. Winnipeg’s Heather McLean had to settle for 23rd place after she fell with 12 laps to go.

It’s Canada’s first long track world title since 2012 when Denny Morrison (1,500 metres) and Christine Nesbitt (1,000 metres and 1,500 metres) also won gold medals.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s exciting and it’s something special for me,” said Blondin, who won silver in this discipline at last year’s world championships, “I couldn’t be happier. I had a tough time mentally and physically last month, but this race is just the cherry on top of the cake.”

Added Blondin: “It was my goal this season to be world champion in the mass start. Finishing second last year gave me the motivation this year to go get the title for Canada, for me, for my coach and for my teammate Josie Spence, who wasn’t there with me today but pushed me physically and mentally all year to perform.”

In the men’s 500, Boisvert-Lacroix collected bronzeat his first world championships.

After coming up with the 10th fastest time (35.081) in Sunday’s first 500-metre race, Boisvert-Lacroix made it up in the second race by earning the second fastest time, and the fourth fastest on the day overall, i.e. 34.707, for an overall time of 69.788.

Russians Pavel Kulizhnikov (69.026) and Ruslan Murashov (69.680) respectively won gold and silver.

Calgary’s Gilmore Junio, who was sixth (34.956) after the first 500 metre, had a tougher time in the second leg as he registered the 22nd time (35.859). He ended up 19th overall.

William Dutton of Humboldt, SK, was for his part seventh in each of the two races, and he finished eighth overall.

In the men’s mass start, Belchos was 10th while Winnipeg’s Stefan Waples was 23rd. South Korea’s Seung-Hoon Lee won the race, followed by Arjan Stroetinga of the Netherlands and by France’s Alexis Contin.

In the women’s 1,500 metre, Regina’s Kali Christ (1:58.78) finished 14th, Brianne Tutt (1:59.45) of Airdrie, Alta., finished 21st and Josie Spence (2:03.33) of Kamloops, B.C., finished 24th. Jorien ter Mors of the Netherlands won gold, followed by American skaters Heather Richardson-Bergsma (1:54.67) and Brittany Bowe (1:55.09).