Canada’s Valerie Maltais secured the silver medal in the women’s 3,000 meters, while Beatrice Lamarche clinched the bronze in the women’s 1,000 at the inaugural speed skating World Cup event on Friday. Maltais finished with a personal best time of three minutes 56.53 seconds, with Joy Beune of the Netherlands claiming gold in 3:53.698 and Ragne Wiklund taking the bronze in 3:57.19.
Expressing her satisfaction, Maltais stated, “I’m thrilled with my performance and my preparation today. After a productive summer of training, I had confidence 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 35-year-old athlete from La Baie, Quebec, previously won a team pursuit gold in record time at the 2022 Winter Games alongside Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. She also competed in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics as a short-track speed skater, securing a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Games in the 3,000 team relay.
Weidemann, from Ottawa, finished fifth, while Blondin, also from Ottawa, placed eighth in the 3,000 on Friday. Calgary’s Laura Hall finished in 13th place.
On the other hand, Lamarche celebrated her first individual-distance World Cup medal by becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the 1,000 podium on the circuit since Christine Nesbitt in 2012-13. The 27-year-old from Quebec City achieved a personal best time of 1:12.77, just shy of the Canadian record of 1:12.68. Jutta Leerdam (1:12.35) and Femke Kok (1:12.43) from the Netherlands claimed gold and silver, respectively.
Reflecting on her achievement, Lamarche expressed her elation, saying, “I was ecstatic just looking at my time after the race. When I saw that I had come in third, I was in disbelief.”
The next speed skating World Cup event is scheduled to be held in Calgary next week. Live coverage of the Utah leg of the World Cup circuit will continue on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem throughout the weekend. Viewers can find detailed information on the streaming schedule for speed skating on CBC’s website.
