Ivanie Blondin (CAN) seized two gold medals on the final day of the ISU Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA on Sunday. After winning the Team Pursuit title with Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann, Blondin claimed the Mass Start in dominant fashion. In between, Miho Takagi (JPN) added the 1000m title to the 1500m crown she won on Friday.
Valérie Maltais, Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin won the Team Pursuit title at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Canadian crew reunites
Canada got the band back together on Sunday, with Weidemann rejoining the team after missing the World Cup in Poland last December. She was taking a break from skating after struggling in the fall.
With the golden Olympic trio reunited, Canada crushed the rest of the field, overtaking pairmates Korea to clock a time of 2:54.02 — 3.52 seconds ahead of Japan’s Momoka Horikawa, Sumire Kikuchi and Yuna Onodera. Skating on home ice, Giorgia Birkeland, Anna Quinn and Greta Myers (USA) took bronze in 3:04.32.
Japan's Sumire Kikuchi, Yuna Onodera and Momoka Horikawa finished second in Team Pursuit at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Skating in second position, Weidemann said she felt good.
“It feels really nice to be back with the girls. Ivanie and I were chatting. I’ve done eight years of Team Pursuit with her, so it was bittersweet to watch (while Blondin and Maltais skated with Béatrice Lamarche at the World Cup in Poland), but it is really exciting to know that we have a deep pool of women.”
Winning was less important than getting back into the zone, Maltais said.
“Today our focus was more like training, like okay, we're getting back together. And it's fun to have another one next week (at the World Cup in Salt Lake City).”
For Team USA, the medal was important given it was the first time Birkeland, Quinn and Myers skated together in this set-up.
“This week was our first week practising together. It feels like it’s a little comfortable, but I feel like we just all rose to the occasion,“ Quinn said.
Giorgia Birkeland, Greta Myers and Anna Quinn were happy with bronze at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
It was exciting to make the podium, said Myers, who almost crashed out of the race early on.
“I managed to stay on my feet and I had to catch up a little bit, and it worked out.”
Blondin dominates mass start
Weidemann was not the only Canadian to take a mid-season break. Blondin was forced to stay home for two weeks due to a COVID-19 infection after the World Cup in Beijing in November. She kept on racing, but it didn’t feel good.
“With the racing and because my schedule was loaded, every time I would get rid of it throughout the week, and then I would start competing and then the symptoms would all start coming back, but throughout the weekends.”
Once the first half of the season was over, Blondin took time to rest before getting back on the ice in Salt Lake City. Feeling strong again, Blondin countered an early escape set up by Birkeland, which ended in a breakaway of three with Kyouko Nitta (JPN). Blondin said it was a fun race.
“I knew the American girls were probably going to try the Dutch strategy with attacking and I knew I was strong enough to obviously be there today, so it was more like a little practice race. Once the three of us were together, it was actually quite fun. It was like the second team pursuit that was a little bit longer and I was kind of cheering them on like, girls you can do it, if you want to medal (you’ve got to) work.”
Ivanie Blondin finished ahead of Giorgia Birkeland and Kyouka Nitta in the Mass Start at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Blondin left her fellow escapees behind on the final lap with a powerful sprint, but the work paid off for Birkeland and Nitta, who seized silver and bronze respectively. It was the first individual international podium for both skaters, and Birkeland said it felt great.
“It feels really good. It's nice to have team stuff, but it's also good to, like, be good on your own. I couldn't have done it without my teammates, though. (Mia Manganello Kilburg, USA) and I talked a little bit before, and we knew there weren't that many girls, so we didn't want to be super slow paced. So we just attacked in the beginning and then one of the attacks stuck, and then we just kept going.”
Takagi claims another gold
Before Blondin secured the final medal of the women’s competition, Takagi took home the 1000m title. The Olympic champion finished the race in 1:12.35, ahead of Kimi Goetz (USA) and Kim Min-Sun (KOR).
Miho Takagi won her second individual gold medal of the Four Continents Championships on Sunday in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
While Takagi said she didn’t care too much about the title, she was pleased with her performance.
“Actually, I don’t really care about the result. It’s more like training for next week (World Cup). This competition, it’s difficult to get motivated, because not all the fastest skaters in the world are here.”
When she won Friday’s 1500m, Takagi said she felt a little rusty. By Sunday, she had more feel for the ice.
“(It felt) good, especially the first 200m. I executed well what I wanted to do, and that’s most important for me so far. I try some new things, not the skating itself, but more about how to take care of my body and I can feel the effect.”
Goetz took silver in 1:12.65, breaking her personal best by .05 seconds.
“It’s a small one, but I’ll take it. (I’m) happy with it for the most part. Happy with my first lap and my drop. My opener, I'd like to see a little faster next weekend. See if that can carry over into a faster lap. I was faster in the 500 lap yesterday and usually I’m on the same or a little faster in the 1000m lap, so trying to clean that up a little bit for the two (1000m races) next week."
Kimi Goetz claimed 1000m silver at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
She wasn’t too pleased about finishing .30 seconds behind Takagi.
“(It’s) further than I like to be, but I was really happy to have the same last lap as her. I feel like that's never happened. So if I can just get that first 600m a little faster, hopefully I’ll finish a little closer to her next week.”
Kim took bronze in 1:13.84, missing out on a personal best by .05 seconds.
“I'm so happy about (my race). Actually, I wanted to set a personal best and I got very close. The Korean national record by (Sang-Hwa Lee) is 1:13.6, so next week I will try again.”
Kim Min-Sun was just shy of a 1000m personal best at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
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