Canada’s Valerie Maltais secured the silver medal in the women’s 3,000 meters event, while Beatrice Lamarche clinched the bronze in the women’s 1,000 meters during the first World Cup speed skating competition of the season on Friday.
Maltais completed the race in a personal best time of three minutes and 56.53 seconds. The gold medal went to Joy Beune of the Netherlands with a time of 3:53.698, while Ragne Wiklund claimed the bronze in 3:57.19.
Expressing her satisfaction with her performance, Maltais stated, “I’m pleased with my race and my preparation today. I had a productive summer of training and knew I could deliver strong performances. The goal was to start the season well, although one can never be certain of their position.”
The 35-year-old athlete from La Baie, Quebec, previously won a team pursuit gold at the 2022 Winter Games with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. 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.
Weidemann, from Ottawa, finished fifth, while Blondin, also from Ottawa, secured eighth place in the 3,000-meter event. Laura Hall from Calgary finished in 13th place.
In a notable achievement, Lamarche won her first individual-distance World Cup medal and became the first Canadian woman since Christine Nesbitt in 2012-13 to reach the 1,000-meter podium on the circuit. Lamarche, aged 27 and hailing from Quebec City, finished with a personal best time of 1:12.77, just short of the Canadian record. Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok, both from the Netherlands, claimed gold and silver, respectively.
Reflecting on her success, Lamarche expressed her elation, saying, “I was thrilled with my race and seeing that I secured third place was unbelievable. I am delighted that my best performances are happening this season, and I am excited for the upcoming events.”
The upcoming speedskating 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.