Ivanie Blondin captures silver in World Cup mass start in Poland
Gélinas-Beaulieu misses podium in men's 1,000 by six-hundredths of a second
Ottawa's Ivanie Blondin took silver in the women's mass start event Sunday at the second-last World Cup speed skating stop of the season in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.
The 32-year-old picked up her fourth World Cup podium of the season in the distance in a time of nine minutes 34.47 seconds.
Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands (9:34.23) took the gold medal while American Mia Kilburg (9:34.61) finished with bronze.
Blondin was well positioned for the final sprint but was unable to catch Groenewoud in the straight as the Dutch skater won her first gold medal of the season.
WATCH | Blondin earns World Cup mass start silver:
Blondin enters the final World Cup of the season ranked second overall in the Mass Start with 355 points thanks to four medals — one gold, two silver and one bronze.
Groenewoud (424 points) appears to have the World Cup title locked up, but Kilburg (340) and Italy's Laura Peveri (336) are within striking distance of Blondin.
"Today went really well. I'm happy with the result and how I fought to the finish. We didn't let any breakaways get away from us, which was good. It was another big weekend for me, especially after a big training camp on Grand Canary Island with lots of climbing on the bike," Blondin said.
"I was definitely feeling it in the legs this weekend! But this hard training block is an investment for world championships, where I'm hoping to feel more fresh and focus in on the races where I can hopefully podium and win a gold medal!"
On the men's side, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu was six-hundredths of a second away from winning his second career World Cup medal in the 1,000 metres, but the Sherbrooke, Que., native fell short of knocking Poland's Damian Zurek out of bronze medal position.
Dutch skater Hein Otterspeer won gold and teammate Kjeld Nuis took silver.
The World Cup speed skating season ends next weekend with a second straight competition in Poland.
The Canadian team has won an 26 World Cup medals (seven gold, 12 silver, seven bronze) across five events, including three medals this weekend.
