Valerie Maltais of Canada secured a silver medal in the 3,000 meters event, while Beatrice Lamarche clinched a bronze in the 1,000 meters at the inaugural speed skating World Cup competition on Friday. Maltais finished with a personal best time of 3 minutes 56.53 seconds, with Joy Beune of the Netherlands taking the gold in 3:53.698 and Ragne Wiklund claiming the bronze in 3:57.19.
Expressing her satisfaction with her performance, Maltais mentioned, “I’m thrilled with my race and my preparation today. I had a productive summer training, and I had faith in my ability to deliver strong performances. The goal was to kick off the season on a high note, but you can never be certain of your standing. The competition in the 3,000 meters is fierce internationally, so I aimed to be prepared and deliver my best performance today.”
The 35-year-old athlete from La Baie, Quebec, had previously won a team pursuit gold at the 2022 Winter Games. She also competed in short-track speed skating at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics, earning a silver medal in the 3,000 team relay at the Sochi 2014 Games. In the same competition, Isabelle Weidemann from Ottawa finished fifth, while Ivanie Blondin, also from Ottawa, secured the eighth position in the 3,000 meters. Laura Hall from Calgary claimed the 13th spot.
On the other hand, Lamarche achieved her first individual-distance World Cup medal by becoming the first Canadian woman since Christine Nesbitt in 2012-13 to reach the podium in the 1,000 meters. The 27-year-old from Quebec City finished with a personal best time of 1:12.77, narrowly missing the Canadian record of 1:12.68. Jutta Leerdam (1:12.35) and Femke Kok (1:12.43) from the Netherlands clinched the gold and silver medals, respectively.
Reflecting on her achievement, Lamarche expressed her excitement, stating, “I was overjoyed just seeing my time after the race, and then realizing I had secured third place, it was unbelievable.”
The upcoming speed skating World Cup event is scheduled to take place in Calgary next week. Live coverage of the Utah leg of the World Cup circuit will continue over the weekend on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Viewers can access the full streaming schedule for speed skating on CBC’s website.