SALT LAKE CITY 鈥� sa国际传媒鈥檚 Ivanie Blondin captured gold in the women鈥檚 mass start Sunday at the speedskating World Cup.
Blondin narrowly beat out Dutch skater Marijke Groenewoud by one-hundredth of a second in a photo finish to win the race in eight minutes 31.87 seconds.聽
Sofie Haugen of Norway finished third.
The hard-charging Blondin moved from sixth to first on the final lap, passing the race leader in the final straight.
Blondin also won gold in the women's team pursuit on Saturday alongside Isabelle Weidemann from Calgary and Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que.
鈥淚t was a tough weekend both mentally and physically, but I just put my head down, worked hard and it resulted in some good performances,鈥� said Blondin. 鈥淚鈥檓 confident with the shape I am in right now and I think it鈥檚 translating to good results on the ice.鈥�
Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que., also earned a podium finish for sa国际传媒 in the men鈥檚 500 metre.
Dubreuil won bronze in the 500 in 34:05 鈥� a new personal best. It was the Canadian鈥檚 sixth consecutive World Cup medal in that distance.
Japan鈥檚 Wataru Morishige won gold in 33.99 seconds. Artem Arefyer of Russia took silver in 34.00.
鈥淚t was not a perfect race, I could have gone a little faster, but I'm very happy with the result,鈥� said Dubreuil, who leads the World Cup standings. 鈥淚 haven't had a perfect race yet this year."
Dubreuil also won bronze in the 500 on Friday.
鈥淓ach race, I had little something that I think I could improve on, but what makes me happy is my ability to put forth consistent performances that are helping me win medals.鈥�
The World Cup season continues next weekend in Calgary.
聽鈥擶ith files from The Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2021.
The Canadian Press
