Blondin earns rare overall podium finish for Canadian women at allround speed skating worlds
Ottawa native, 29, places 2nd behind Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands in Norway
Ivanie Blondin claimed a silver medal Sunday at the ISU world allround speed skating championships in Hamar, Norway, becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the overall podium at the event since Christine Nesbitt won bronze in 2012. Blondin is just the fifth Canadian woman to reach the overall podium since the event started in 1936.
The 29-year-old Ottawa native captured second in the overall standings behind Dutch skater Ireen Wüst by earning three top-five finishes in her four races at the event, including a second-place finish in the first 3,000-metre allround race.
She finished with a cumulative time of 160.462, just 9.38 seconds behind Wüst who won her seventh career gold medal at the event. Antoinette de Jong (160.631) of the Netherlands took bronze. Blondin placed fifth in the 1,500 and fourth in the 5,000 on Sunday.
WATCH | Ivanie Blondin captures overall silver in Hamar, Norway:
"I'm pretty happy with the end result and with this weekend overall,' Blondin said. "It's always been a dream of mine to reach the podium at the world allround championships. My 1,500m didn't go super great, and I almost fell in the 5,000m, but it's a learning process. I think I showed consistency to finish second overall, and while today wasn't great, I'm looking forward to when allrounds comes around again."
Blondin has had a tremendous World Cup season that has seen her win medals in the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000. Decorated Olympian Cindy Klassen was the last Canadian woman to win gold at the world allround speed skating championships when she achieved the feat in 2006.
Fellow Ottawan Isabelle Weidemann finished 14th in the overall allround standings, while Saguenay, Que., native Valerie Maltais finished 17th.
Roest wins men's gold
Patrick Roest of the Netherlands won his third straight gold medal at the men's world allround speed skating championships with a combined time of 147.880, finishing ahead of Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway (149.277) and Japan's Seitaro Ichinohe (149.310).
Calgary native Ted-Jan Bloemen finished as the top-ranked Canadian at the men's allround event with a seventh-place finish, while Jordan Belchos of Toronto achieved a career-best eighth-place result. Winnipeg's Tyson Langelaar finished 13th.