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Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais secured the third consecutive World Cup trophy in the Women’s Team Pursuit for Canada on Saturday. Inspired by the home ice of the Calgary Olympic Oval the trio set a Canadian and a track record in 2:52.06, beating Japan and concluding the season undefeated. Nao Kodaira handed Japan a 1000m gold and a 500m silver, while Angelina Golikova (RUS) seized her first World Cup victory of the season in the 500m.
Victory on merit
Canada washed away all the mixed feelings they had after last week’s win in Salt Lake City when they benefited from Japan crashing out in the final lap while they were almost two seconds ahead in the split times.
“We were much happier with this race,” Weidemann said.
Valerie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin, and Isabelle Weidemann (CAN) © International Skating Union (ISU)
“We were a little bit nervous last week. We made some mistakes and obviously Japan fell. So it wasn't as nice of a win for us. But this week, we skated really well together and we fixed a lot of the things that we were working on all week.”
Despite the mistakes, Canada set a national record in last week’s race, which they broke on the ice of the Calgary Oval, which seemed to be a bit slower than the track in Salt Lake City.
“That's a big evidence for us that we just skated it a lot better. We felt a lot better too. We felt stronger in the last laps, which is how we usually skate.”
Blondin explained the difference: “Last weekend, we were really rushed, the pushes, it just wasn't a good execution. We were all a little bit nervous, which transferred into a strategy of the race of how we all skated individually at the front.
“This week, we just focus a lot on good execution and long nice pushes and just focus on keeping it smooth and close together.”
Canada skated in the final pair versus the Netherlands, who brought a team of youngsters. Reina Anema, Sanne in ’t Hof and Evelien Vijn – the latter collected five medals over the course of two Junior World Cup weekends in Inzell (Germany) before travelling to Calgary this week – finished sixth in 2:59.54.
Japan, Canada and the Netherlands © International Skating Union (ISU)
Before Canada and the Netherlands took the ice, Japan (Ayano Sato, Nana Takagi, Miho Takagi) had set the fastest time in 2:52.89, with China (Ahena Er Adake, Han Mei, Li Qishi) coming second in 2:58.42. They were pushed into silver and bronze by the Canadian train.
Skating in the final pair had not been much of an advantage, Weidemann said.
“I didn't even look at it (the split times). We skate a lot better when we're just focused on ourselves. We're not looking around and we know that it's within ourselves. We skated times like this in practice before, we can do it and we just have to really focus only on ourselves.”
Carrying home the Team Pursuit Trophy for the third year in a row gave Canada a confidence boost en route to the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“Yes, it really shows how much work we've put in as a team. Obviously we want to keep moving forward and keep building on what we've done today, but yeah, it's a really nice thing to check off, and we've been consistent now for quite a few years.”
Kodaira takes season first gold
Before the Team Pursuit, Nao Kodaira (JPN) grabbed her first World Cup win of the season, not in her favorite 500m, but in the 1000m.
“Finally,” she laughed with a sigh of relief.
“I’m so happy to have won the 1000m - looking forward to the Olympic Games.”
Nao Kodaira (JPN) © International Skating Union (ISU)
The Olympic 500m champion had a busy schedule in the first half of the season, competing in the 500m, the 1000m and the 1500m. She is aiming to race in all three distances at the Olympic Games in February as well.
Kodaira edged out Brittany Bowe (USA) by 0.03 seconds. The American middle distance specialist had skated one minute and 12.54 seconds previously and ended up in second place.
“It's a really solid race. I’m happy how I closed the race out, lacking a little bit of speed there in the opening.”
Bowe was the only skater to set a sub-28-second final lap in 27.89s.
“I think that was one of my best finishes I've had. I always want to win but on the bright side, the solid last lap, that's something to be proud of.”
Bowe retained the lead in the 1000m World Cup ranking, with Kodaira second.
Olga Fatkulina (RUS) took bronze in 1:13.15. She had skipped the 500m to save energy for the 1000m, in which she was not sure of an Olympic ticket yet.
She was happy to have made her mark although she was not satisfied with her race.
“My first full lap was not good, 26.7s. I need a 26.6 or 26.4 but the result was ok and I secured my Olympic ticket for the 1000m.”
Season first for Golikova
Angelina Golikova (RUS) started the day with gold in the 500m and like Kodaira it was a season first for her.
With a staggering 10.19 opener, Golikova set a personal best in 36.66, beating Kodaira by 0.09s.
“My first 100m was very good but my lap was not perfect. In the end it’s a good time for me now. It gives me confidence to know that I can win, even when I’m not skating a perfect race.”
Nao Kodaira (JPN), Angelina Golikova (RUS) and Erin Jackson (USA) © International Skating Union (ISU)
Erin Jackson (USA) took 500m bronze in 36.92 and retained the lead in the World Cup ranking.
She was happy with her performances in the first four World Cups, having won four out of eight 500m races.
“This is the most I've raced in. I don't even know how long, so it's been really good. (There’s) a lot of things to learn from this and then (I’m) ready to take a little break, regroup and come back strong.”
Jackson is not nervous about her new status going into the Olympics as World Cup leader.
“Pressure? I hope there is. I like it.”
500m Women
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 500m Women
1000m Women
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 1000m Women
Team Pursuit Women
ISU World Cup Team Pursuit Women Standings Team Pursuit Women
The event entry quotas for the individual distances will be determined by the Special Olympic Qualification Classification (SOQC) based on results from the different ISU World Cup Speed Skating Competitions and the full details are available in ISU Communication 2405.
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series please visit: isu.org/speed-skating. Results are here and you can follow the discussion on social media by using #SpeedSkating.
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For further information on ISU Speed Skating visit https://www.isu.org/speed-skating
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series 2021/22:
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) – Nov 12 – 14, 2021
Stavanger (NOR) - Nov 19 - Nov 21, 2021
Salt Lake City (USA) - Dec 03 - Dec 05, 2021
Calgary (CAN) – Dec 10 - Dec 12, 2021
Final – Heerenveen (NED) – Mar 12 - Mar 13, 2022
About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of international Speed Skating competitions which takes place annually. The Series started in 1984 and usually consists of six or seven Events including the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final. However during the Olympic season the Series consists of five Events.
Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the Skater who has the most points on a given distance at the end of the Series is the World Cup winner of that distance. The World Cup Competitions held from November to December serve as qualifying events for entry quotas at the ISU European, World Single Distances, World Sprint and World Allround Speed Skating Championships and during the Olympic season they are Olympic Qualifying Events. A number of World Cup titles are awarded every season; For Men: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, combined 5000m / 10,000m, Mass Start, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. For Women 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the combined 3000m / 5000m, Mass Start, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. For further information please visit isu.org/WorldCupSpeedSkating.
