Blondin wins World Cup speedskating gold in mass start; Dubreuil wins bronze in 500

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This article was published 06/12/2021 (1397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SALT LAKE CITY – Canada’s Ivanie Blondin captured gold in the women’s mass start Sunday at the speedskating World Cup.

Blondin narrowly beat out Dutch skater Marijke Groenewoud by one-hundredth of a second in a photo finish to win the race in eight minutes 31.87 seconds.

Sofie Haugen of Norway finished third.

The hard-charging Blondin moved from sixth to first on the final lap, passing the race leader in the final straight.

Blondin also won gold in the women’s team pursuit on Saturday alongside Isabelle Weidemann from Calgary and Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que.

“It was a tough weekend both mentally and physically, but I just put my head down, worked hard and it resulted in some good performances,” said Blondin. “I’m confident with the shape I am in right now and I think it’s translating to good results on the ice.”

Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que., also earned a podium finish for Canada in the men’s 500 metre.

Dubreuil won bronze in the 500 in 34:05 – a new personal best. It was the Canadian’s sixth consecutive World Cup medal in that distance.

Japan’s Wataru Morishige won gold in 33.99 seconds. Artem Arefyer of Russia took silver in 34.00.

“It was not a perfect race, I could have gone a little faster, but I’m very happy with the result,” said Dubreuil, who leads the World Cup standings. “I haven’t had a perfect race yet this year.”

Dubreuil also won bronze in the 500 on Friday.

“Each race, I had little something that I think I could improve on, but what makes me happy is my ability to put forth consistent performances that are helping me win medals.”

The World Cup season continues next weekend in Calgary.

—With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2021.