Canada’s Maltais claims bronze in 3,000m at speed skating World Cup in Salt Lake City
Canadian long track speed skater Valérie Maltais continued her strong season with a bronze medal in the women’s 3,000 metres at the World Cup stop in Salt Lake City on Friday.
The 33-year-old from La Baie, Que., won her first career World Cup medal in the distance with a time of three minutes 59.71 seconds, edging Dutch skater Marijke Groenewoud by 1.21 seconds on the opening day of competition at the Utah Olympic Oval.
Joy Beune of the Netherlands won gold in a personal-best 3:56.86, one spot ahead of compatriot Irene Schouten (3:58.20).
Maltais took home a pair of gold medals on the same ice last week at the Four Continents Championships, in the 3,000m and the women’s team pursuit alongside Olympic champion teammates Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann. Canada’s skaters won 12 medals in total.
Ottawa’s Blondin finished just under two seconds behind Maltais for seventh place in 4:01.55 on Friday, while Laura Hall of Salmon Arm, B.C., was 13th with a personal-best time of 4:08.12.
WATCH l Maltais skates to World Cup bronze in 3,000m:
Valérie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., claimed a bronze medal in the 3,000 metre race at the World Cup event in Salt Lake City, Utah Friday.
Maltais’s World Cup season also includes two silver medals in the team pursuit in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland, and Obihiro, Japan, as well as mass start silver in Stavanger, Norway and bronze in Beijing. She is currently ranked in the top-10 of the World Cup standings in both the mass start (second) and long distances (third).
“I’m happy with my result today! I adapted my strategy well following my race last week,” Maltais said. “[Coach] Muncef [Ouardi] was telling me where I stood in relation to the leader during my race, and that was really motivating!
“Physically I felt fine, but tactically and technically I still have a few things to improve. But today, I must take the time to celebrate and appreciate this medal!”
American phenom Jordan Stolz etched his name in the record books earlier in the day, setting the world record in the men’s 1,000m.
Canmore, Alta., native Connor Howe posted 1:07.84 to finish 12th, while Vincent De Haître of Cumberland, Ont., was 18th (1:08.27).
Howe, who won gold last week in the 1,500m, also finished 12th in the men’s mass start on Friday with a time of 7:58.20 and one sprint point.
Fellow Olympian Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke, Que., placed 19th in 8:25.37.
Maddison Pearman, from Ponoka, Alta., and Blondin finished 18th and 20th, respectively, in the women’s 1,000m.
The three-day World Cup meet continues Saturday with the women’s and men’s 500m, 1,500m and team pursuit events. Watch live coverage on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, starting at 2 p.m. ET.
WATCH l Replay of Day 1 coverage:
Watch day one of the ISU World Cup speed skating event from Salt Lake City, UT.
