Blondin, Fish win more titles at Canadian long-track speedskating championships

QUÉBEC — Ivanie Blondin and Graeme Fish captured more hardware at the Canadian long-track speedskating championships on Friday.

Blondin, who won the 3,000-metre crown on Thursday, claimed her second national title of the season with a win in the women’s 1,000.

The 34-year-old from Ottawa won in a time of 1:15.562, ahead of Maddison Pearman of Ponoka, Alta. (1:17.182) and Rose Laliberté-Roy of St-Étienne, Que. (1:18.119).

“I was really happy with the end result. I had a great pair and Carolina (Hiller) really pushed me,” Blondin said. “I was a little worried that we were going to have a crossover problem because she’s more of a sprinter than I am. I was very aware of that possibility, so I decided to go as hard as I could off the start and that’s really what got me going.

“I was able to maintain that into the second lap thanks to my long-distance experience.”

Fish, Thursday’s 5,000 champion, cruised to victory in the men’s 10,000 on Friday.

The reigning world championship bronze medallist of Moose Jaw, Sask., skated a time of 12:58.414. Calgary’s Daniel Hall (13:48.799) and Connor Waters of Oakville, Ont. (14:13.529) took silver and bronze.

“It’s always nice to go out there and have a good showing,” Fish said. “My goals today were to execute my race plan and implement what I’ve been working on in training, and I think I was able to do that. I’m hoping to build off that and keep getting better every day.”

Connor Howe of Canmore, Alta., captured the men’s 1,000 in 1:08.933 to defeat hometown favourite Laurent Dubreuil (1:09.298). Anders Johnson of Burnaby, B.C. (1:09.513) took bronze.

Laura Hall of Salmon Arm, B.C., claimed the first national championship title of her career in the women’s 5,000 (7:19.645). Abigail McCluskey of Penticton, B.C. (7:20.160) and Laurie Cayer of Lévis, Que. (7:24.188) rounded out the podium.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.