Canadian women's team pursuit speed skaters move on to semis
Canadian trio has won the right to skate for a medal on Wednesday
By Pete Evans, CBC Sports
Canada's speed skating team pursuit squad posted the third-fastest time in the quarter-finals and as such will move on to skate for a medal later this week.
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The trio of Ivanie Blondin, Josie Morrison and Isabelle Weidemann finished the six-lap, 2,400-metre race with a time of two minutes, 59.02.
Canadian women's team pursuit looking in sync with a solid pace<br><br>Top 4 times qualify<br><br>WATCH the QFs now: <a href="https://t.co/IcqjCp5pHk">https://t.co/IcqjCp5pHk</a> <a href="https://t.co/LwJJ4k1mQg">pic.twitter.com/LwJJ4k1mQg</a>
—@CBCOlympicsThat means they'll face off against a Japanese squad in the semifinals on Wednesday. If they win that, they'll go for gold against the winner of the the other semi between the U.S. and the Netherlands. But even if they lose, they'll skate in the bronze medal race.
"I definitely think we've got more to give and can win a medal," Blondin said after the race.
The Dutch set a new Olympic record time of two minutes, 55.61 seconds in their race.
Men's results
On the men's side, several Canadians raced in the finals of the 500-metre sprint, one of the marquee events in long track.
Laurent Dubreuil finished in 18th place, while Gilmore Junio finished just ahead of him in 17th. Junio raced against the eventual silver medallist Cha Min Kyu of South Korea.
Alex Boisvert-Lacroix was in the final pairing of the day, and was actually ahead of the pace set by eventual gold medallist Havard Lorentzen of Norway at the 100m mark. But Boisvert-Lacroix faded as the race wore on, finishing in 11th place with a time of 34.934 seconds.