Canada’s golden trio is gearing up for its final Olympic Video games.
Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais, who received speedskating group pursuit gold collectively in Beijing, every did some psychological and bodily housekeeping in 2024 to make sure they might be prepared for the subsequent Olympic Video games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, in simply over a yr.
For Weidemann, Canada’s closing ceremonies flag-bearer in Beijing after claiming a whole set of medals, it was coming into her first Ironman 70.3 race, which is a 1.9-kilometre swim, 90k bike experience and half-marathon within the spring of 2024.
“I wanted one thing to give attention to that was so new that I felt I had nothing to lose,” stated the 29-year-old. “I wanted to show off my speedskating mind just a little bit.”
Blondin, a mass begin silver medallist in Beijing, spent final summer season racing for a professional biking group in the US.
“It was actually good for me to do one thing completely different, particularly at my age,” the 34-year-old stated. “I’ve been on the speedskating group since I used to be 14 years previous, and simply doing one thing completely different for a whole summer season I believe mentally was very refreshing.”
Maltais, who rounded out the victorious pursuit group in 2022, takes goal on the sixth Olympic Video games of her profession.
Get breaking Nationwide information
For information impacting Canada and world wide, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you once they occur.
The 34-year-old married retired speedskater Jordan Belchos and accomplished the psychology certification in her multi-disciplinary bachelor’s diploma final yr.
“Like many issues in life, there’s no excellent time. We’ve bought to find time for what we actually take care of,” Maltais stated. “You want to take a breath, get pleasure from and do what you want apart from speedskating. There’s a sensible manner of doing it.
“We’re doing actions that can preserve us sharp for on ice. Now we’re actually moving into that final push.”
The three ladies lead Canada’s group of 28 skaters into an ISU World Cup on house ice Friday to Sunday at Calgary’s Olympic Oval. It’s the third World Cup this season after stops in Nagano, Japan and Beijing.
Weidemann was a silver medallist within the ladies’s 5,000 metres and bronze medallist within the 3k in Beijing.
Workforce pursuit isn’t on the race menu in Calgary, though it’s subsequent week in Milwaukee, Wis., in subsequent month’s World Cup finale in Heerenveen, Netherlands, and in March’s world championship in Hamar, Norway.
Ottawa’s Weidemann and Blondin and Maltais of Saguenay, Que., will consider their particular person races in Calgary.
Weidemann and Blondin step to the road Friday within the first ladies’s 5k of the season. Blondin received the season-opening 3k and Weidemann positioned third within the second.
Blondin and Maltais will race in Sunday’s ladies’s mass begin, which brings brief monitor’s jockeying and jostling for place to a 16-lap, head-to-head race that features intermediate sprints for factors.
Different Canadian contenders embrace Calgary’s Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Sask., who claimed world championship silver and bronze respectively within the males’s 10k final yr. They race that distance Saturday.
Each Weidemann and Maltais are emphatic the 2026 Olympic Video games will likely be their final. Blondin says it’s “largely probably” hers.
“I really feel fairly assured. I’m excited. I need to get on the rostrum once more in ladies’s group pursuit and the mass begin and possibly a person distance,” Blondin stated.
Weidemann and Maltais say they’re ready to empty their tanks earlier than they cling up their skates.
“Folks would possibly assume an athlete taking a look at retirement is checked out, (however) everyone in that boat has a lot hearth as a result of they’re like ‘I solely have one yr.’ It’s just one yr of coaching,” Weidemann defined. “I can present up daily and exit and crush myself and be purposeful with what I’m doing. I really feel nervous for certain. Loads can occur in a yr.”
Stated Maltais: “It’s a particular feeling to know that that is my final Olympic cycle. Once I’m coaching, I actually need to put all of it on the market. I don’t need to go away any stone unturned.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Source link