Ivanie Blondin wins silver for 8th career mass start medal at world championships
Fellow Canadian Connor Howe earns bronze in 1,500m on final day in Hamar, Norway
Canada's Ivanie Blondin claimed silver in the women's mass start for her third medal at the 2025 world single distances championships in Hamar, Norway.
The 34-year-old from Ottawa finished 0.2 seconds behind Dutch long-tracker Marijke Groenewoud, who won her third mass start world title with a time of eight minutes 23.17 seconds in the final event of the four-day competition.
Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida clocked 8:23.58 for bronze.
WATCH l Blondin skates to silver in mass start:
Blondin finished second in the event for the fourth straight year after winning it in 2020, collecting her eighth career mass start medal at the world championships. The 2022 Olympic silver medallist won two World Cup silver medals and a bronze in the discipline this season.
Blondin also helped Canada earn a team sprint silver medal in Hamar on Thursday and bronze in Friday's team pursuit, marking the third straight year she has reached the podium in all three events at worlds.
She raced in the women's 1,500 metres earlier Sunday, finishing eighth as the top Canadian in 1:56.31.
Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., was eighth in the mass start and 13th in the 1,500m.
Connor Howe, from Canmore, Alta., opened the day with a bronze medal in the men's 1,500m, finishing 0.07 seconds behind American silver medallist Jordan Stolz (1:44.71).
Norway's own Peder Kongshaug sent Stolz, a 20-year-old phenom, home without a world title for the first time since his 2022 debut — dethroning the two-time defending champion with a time of 1:44.64.
Saint-Lambert, Que., native David La Rue (1:47.38) was 16th.
Stolz, who swept the men's 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m events at the previous two world championships, took silver in Friday's 500 and bronze in Saturday's 1,000.
WATCH l Howe finishes 3rd in tight 1,500m:
