Canada’s Valerie Maltais secured the silver medal in the women’s 3,000 meters, while Beatrice Lamarche clinched the bronze in the women’s 1,000 during the opening World Cup event for speed skating on Friday. Maltais achieved a personal best time of three minutes and 56.53 seconds, with Joy Beune from the Netherlands claiming gold in 3:53.698 and Ragne Wiklund taking the bronze in 3:57.19.
Expressing her satisfaction, Maltais stated, “I’m pleased with my performance and my preparation today. After a productive summer of training, I had confidence in my abilities. The goal was to start the season strongly, considering the tough competition on the international stage.”
The 35-year-old athlete from La Baie, Quebec, had previously won a team pursuit gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She had also participated in short-track speed skating in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics, achieving a silver medal in the 3,000 team relay event at the Sochi 2014 Games.
Weidemann and Blondin, both from Ottawa, finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 3,000 meters on Friday, while Calgary’s Laura Hall secured the 13th position.
On the other hand, Lamarche, 27, from Quebec City, celebrated her first individual-distance World Cup medal by clinching bronze in the 1,000 meters, becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the podium in that event since Christine Nesbitt in 2012-13. She finished with a personal best time of 1:12.77, narrowly missing the Canadian record of 1:12.68. Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok from the Netherlands claimed gold and silver, respectively.
Overwhelmed with her achievement, Lamarche commented, “I was thrilled with my performance and couldn’t believe it when I saw that I secured the third position. It’s a great start for me this season, and I’m excited to see what’s next.”
The next speed skating World Cup event is scheduled to take place in Calgary the following week. Live coverage of the ongoing World Cup circuit in Utah can be accessed on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem throughout the weekend.