Heerenveen, Netherlands –
Canadian speed skaters Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Martheis won the women’s team pursuit world title on Friday after the Dutch team was disqualified for their technicality.
The trio of hometown favorites of Joy Bean, Eileen Schuten and Maraike Grunewood crossed the line first, but were penalized for showing bare skin during the race.
International Skating Union rules for mass start and team speed skating events stipulate that, for safety reasons, no part of the body other than the face may be exposed during any part of the race.
Weidemann, Blondin and Maltheis of Ottawa, from Saguenay, Kennedy, were promoted to gold medal position after crossing the line second in 2:54.58.
Japan (+2.72s) and the USA (+5.81s) rounded out the podium.
The World Championship title was missed by the Canadian trio after winning gold at the Beijing Olympics and compiling eight consecutive World Cup gold medals and four consecutive World Cup titles since the start of the 2020-21 campaign. It was the only title
The trio have won silver at the 2021 World Championships and bronze at the 2020 World Championships.
“Today’s race wasn’t a bad race by any means for us, but it was a bit of a bittersweet victory as the Dutch team was DQed,” said Blondin. I think we’ll go back to. That’s for sure.”
Conor Howe (Canmore, Alberta, Canada), Hayden Mayor (Toronto) and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (Sherbrooke, Queensland) of the men’s team also made it to the podium with silver medals on Friday.
Canada clocked a time of 3:38.43 and held the lead until the final pairing, but the Dutch’s phenomenal skating (3:38.26) put them in second place, 0.17 seconds behind the gold medal. rice field. Norway (+2.67) won the bronze medal.
In the individual distance, Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Quebec won silver with a time of 34.46 seconds.
18-year-old American rookie Jordan Stoltz (34.10) won gold and Japan’s Wataru Morishige (34.48) won bronze.
This report by the Canadian Press was first published on March 3, 2023.
