Ivanie Blondin, Jordan Belchos win mass start gold in Nagano
Canadian speed skaters Ivanie Blondin and Jordan Belchos each won their respective mass start races to take individual gold medals at a World Cup event on Friday in Nagano, Japan.
Blondin, from Ottawa, completed the mass start event in eight minutes, 26.440 seconds, earning 61 sprint points and 120 points overall. Japan's Nana Takagi took silver and Mia Kilburg-Manganello of the U.S. took bronze.
"I was really confident out there and felt like today was going to be a good day. Coming off last weekend, it's hard to not be confident and I carried that through to a great race today," said Blondin.
WATCH Blondin blazes to World Cup mass start gold in Nagano:
Belchos, from Toronto, won the men's event with a time of 7:53.990, scoring 120 points overall, including 61 sprint points. American Joey Mantia and Bart Swings of Belgium rounded out the podium, with silver and bronze, respectively.
"The mass start is a race where it's so hard to predict what's going to happen, so I try to go in with a bit of a plan and stick to it," Belchos said. "My plan today was to be patient and wait for the right moment to make an attack. I got away and just held on until the finish. I always think it's cool to be on the podium with guys who you respect a lot, so standing with Bart and Joey was special."
WATCH | Belchos cruises to World Cup mass start gold:
Canada also took bronze in the men's team sprint final. Alex Boisvert-Lacroix, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, David La Rue, and Tyson Langelaar teamed up for a time of 1:20.979, just behind Russia (1:20.139) and Russia Japan (1:20.846).
WATCH | Canadian men sprint to bronze:
