Canadian speed skater Blondin just misses podium at single distance worlds

Canadian speedskaters Ivanie Blondin and Ted-Jan Bloemen finished just outside the medals on the opening day of the world single-distance championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Ottawa's Blondin was fourth in the women's 3,000 metres and Calgary's Bloemen fifth in the men's 5,000 on Thursday.

The long-track championships at the Gangneung Oval are also a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Sven Kramer of the Netherlands claimed the eighth 5,000-metre title of his career. He beat countryman and runner-up Jorrit Bergsma by 2.51 seconds in their pairing. Peter Michael of New Zealand was third.

Dutchwoman Irene Wust wrested the 3,000 world title away from runner-up Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic. They were the only two women to go under four minutes with Wust stopping the clock at 3:59.05 and Sablikova at 3:59.65.

Antoinette de Jong of the Netherlands took bronze in 4:01.99 ahead of Blondin in 4:02.45. Blondin, whose specialty is Sunday's mass start, said her result was an improvement on her 17th-place result last year.

'Made one mistake'

"I made one mistake and I think that's what cost me a medal today," Blondin said. "I would have loved to bring home a medal this year in the three thousand metres, but at the same time there is a positive in the fact that I finished fourth."

Ottawa's Isabelle Weidemann was ninth in a career-best time of 4:04.54.

Wust won the 3,000 previously in 2011 and 2013. Sablikova took it in 2007, 2012, 2015, and 2016.

Their battle for the gold medal will be one of the highlights of next year's Winter Games. Sablikova prevailed in 2010, but Wust was the winner in 2006 and 2014.

Bloemen, a transplanted Dutchman now skating for Canada, won the 5,000 at the most recent World Cup in Berlin.

The world record-holder in the 10,000 metres was fastest at the halfway point Thursday, but faded to cross the line almost eight seconds slower than Kramer.

"I'm not too happy about how I finished, but I went for it," Bloemen said. "My first half of the race appeared to be a little bit too much for me. I'm a little bit disappointed about that.

"Next time, I'll go a little bit slower and finish a little bit faster and maybe end up on the podium. I'm in really good shape. I just need to control my speed a bit better."

Jordan Belchos has personal best

Toronto's Jordan Belchos was eighth in a personal-best time despite illness during his preparation.

"I've been feeling a little sick the past few days but today, I just went out and skated," Belchos said. "The times just kept coming in and I was really into the race."

Kramer won the 5,000-metre Olympic gold in both 2010 and 2014. With Pyeongchang a year away, he indicated four medals are in his plans.

"Of course, it's my goal, not only the 5,000, but also the 10,000, the team pursuit and maybe a bonus 1,500," Kramer said.

The men's and women's 500 metres and team pursuits are scheduled for Friday. The event concludes Sunday.