Golden skate: Ivanie Blondin powers her way to World Cup win
Ottawa native also took bronze in women's 3,000-metre event
Canadian speed skater Ivanie Blondin added to her medal haul at the first long track World Cup stop of the season, sprinting to gold in the women's mass start on Sunday in China.
The Ottawa native went into the final lap with the lead and used a strong sprint to secure her second medal of the weekend after scoring bronze in the 3,000-metre event on Friday, her first career medal in that distance.
"I felt really pumped. I knew I had it in me. I just had to come up with the perfect strategy," Blondin said. "The last lap, I actually went a little bit earlier that I would normally have, to surprise the others and have a head start on them.
"I didn't really have a race plan going into it. I was just planning to feel things out. Knowing that I had good speed like I had in the 1000m, I knew I was capable of beating all the other skaters at the line. I just went for it and ended it pretty well."
Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida finished second and Korea's Bo-Reum Kim third.
On the men's side, Toronto's Jordan Belchos tied a career-best with a fourth-place finish behind South Korea's Seung-Hoon Lee, who won gold, France's Alexis Contin and Italy's Fabio Francolini.
"My original plan was to stick in the front of the pack and to see if I could get away at some point," Belchos said.
"Because I was in an active position for the first half of the race, it ended up paying off with a high ranking. I was also able to get some intermediate points. But I think I spent a little too much energy on that. Ultimately, I was looking for a breakaway to happen at some point."