Ivanie Blondin wins mass start gold at speed skating worlds
Canada's Ivanie Blondin was golden on Sunday at the world single distance championships in Kolomna, Russia.
Blondin was tops in the women's mass start, with a time of eight minutes, 17.53 seconds. Her win was the missing piece in Canada's all-time domination at the championships.
It's Canada's first long track world title since 2012 when Denny Morrison (1,500 metres) and Christine Nesbitt (1,000 and 1,500) also won gold medals.
"It hasn't sunk in yet. It's exciting and it's something special for me," said Blondin, who won silver in this discipline at last year's world championships, "I couldn't be happier. I had a tough time mentally and physically last month, but this race is just the cherry on top of the cake."
Added Blondin: "It was my goal this season to be world champion in the mass start. Finishing second last year gave me the motivation this year to go get the title for Canada, for me, for my coach and for my teammate Josie Spence, who wasn't there with me today but pushed me physically and mentally all year to perform."
Kim Bo-Reum of South Korea took silver, finishing 0.13 seconds behind Blondin, and Japan's Miho Takagi was 0.15 seconds behind for Bronze.
Canadian Alex Boisvert-Lacroix also medalled on Sunday, winning a bronze in the 500m.
Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov retained his title in the 500 with a time of 69.026 seconds over two runs, ahead of fellow Russian Ruslan Murashov in 69.680.
After coming up with the 10th fastest time (35.081) in Sunday's first 500 race, Boisvert-Lacroix made it up in the second race by earning the second fastest time, and the fourth fastest on the day overall, i.e. 34.707, for an overall time of 69.788.
It is the second gold of the championships for Kulizhnikov, who won the men's 1000 on Saturday, and the third for host nation Russia.
Calgary's Gilmore Junio, who was sixth (34.956) after the first 500 metre, had a tougher time in the second leg as he registered the 22nd time (35.859). He ended up 19th overall.
William Dutton of Humboldt, Sask., was for his part seventh in each of the two races, and he finished eighth overall.
In the men's mass start, Jordan Belchos was 10th while Winnipeg's Stefan Waples was 23rd. South Korea's Seung-Hoon Lee won the race, followed by Arjan Stroetinga of the Netherlands and by France's Alexis Contin.
In the women's 1,500, Regina's Kali Christ (1:58.78) finished 14th, Brianne Tutt (1:59.45) of Airdrie, Alta., finished 21st and Josie Spence (2:03.33) of Kamloops, B.C., finished 24th. Jorien ter Mors of the Netherlands won gold, followed by American skaters Heather Richardson-Bergsma (1:54.67) and Brittany Bowe (1:55.09).
