Canadian men skate to team sprint gold on 3-medal day for Canada at Four Continents
Canada's Howe claims men's 1,500m title; Canadian women take team sprint bronze
Canadians won two of the four events on the opening day of the Four Continents speed skating championships on Friday, part of a three-medal haul at the Utah Olympic Oval.
Yankun Zhao joined Olympians Laurent Dubreuil and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu atop the men's team sprint podium, while Connor Howe followed it up with a gold medal of his own in the men's 1,500 metres.
The Canadian trio skated to gold in a season-best time of one minute 18.54 seconds, winning the event by over three seconds in Kearns, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Kazakhstan placed second in 1:21.71, followed by South Korea (1:22.01).
The victory marked the first career international medal for Zhao, who was making his debut with the senior team less than a year after being crowned national junior champion. Originally listed as the reserve skater for the team sprint, the 20-year-old filled in at the last minute after Anders Johnson was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
WATCH l Canadian men capture team sprint gold:
"I didn't feel any pressure on my shoulders, as this was my first senior international competition and I wanted to use the winter to gain experience," Zhao said in a release. "I never would have thought that we would win gold in the event! I'm excited to see what the future in speed skating holds for me."
Howe won gold with a time of 1:43.19 for his first international podium of the season. The 23-year-old from Canmore, Alta., finished ahead of American Emery Lehman (1:44.03) and Japan's Ryota Kojima (1:44.40).
Vincent De Haître of Cumberland, Ont., was 12th in 1:47.69.
Howe won a pair of World Cup gold medals in the distance last season, finishing second in the overall standings.
WATCH l Howe wins 1,500m title:
Canada opened the competition with bronze in the women's team sprint, as Carolina Hiller, Maddison Pearman and Ivanie Blondin finished just 0.41 seconds behind the United States while setting a Canadian record (1:25.41). Japan captured gold in 1:24.32.
The Canadians bested the previous mark of 1:25.73 from December 2022. It was Canada's third international medal in the distance this season, having previously won World Cup silver in Beijing and bronze in Stavanger, Norway.
"It was very exciting to break the national record today and come away with a medal," Pearman said. "I think we have some things we could improve on for the next race but we are definitely a strong team each time we step out on the ice and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season!"
WATCH l Canada takes home bronze in women's team sprint:
In other Canadian results, Laura Hall and Alison Desmarais finished seventh (2:00.61) and eighth (2:00.77) in the women's 1,500.
Watch live coverage of the Four Continents speed skating championships on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, continuing Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with the women's 500m.
Ottawa's Isabelle Weidemann will look to add to Canada's haul in the women's 5,000m and 3,000m — the events she took silver and bronze in, respectively, at the 2022 Olympics. She'll also join Blondin and Valérie Maltais to reunite the gold-medal trio in the women's team pursuit.
Weidemann skipped the World Cup's two European stops last month to prepare for the closing North American leg of the season. It includes World Cup meets at the Utah Oval and in Quebec City the next two weeks before the world championships in Calgary in mid-February.
WATCH l Full replay of Day 1 at Utah Olympic Oval:
With files from Speed Skating Canada and CBC Sports' Jesse Campigotto
