Ivanie Blondin (CAN) competed in seven events in Salt Lake City, USA, but she never seemed to tire. On Sunday, the Canadian warrior beat Olympic champion Irene Schouten (NED) in a dominant sprint to add the Mass Start title to the Team Pursuit gold she won Saturday. Blondin also skated the concluding Relay Mixed Gender with Yankun Zhao (CAN), but finished just outside the podium, with Sun Chuanyi and Jin Wenjing (CHN) seizing their first World Cup win. Kimi Goetz (USA) started the final day with her first 1000m win of the season in the absence of World Cup leader Miho Takagi (JPN).
Ivanie Blondie won the fast and furious Mass Start on Sunday at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Blondin embraces overspeed
The women’s mass start was fast and furious.
Marijke Groenewoud (NED), who celebrated her 25th birthday on Sunday, tried to set up an escape in the second half of the race, but Valérie Maltais (CAN) chased her down. Heading into the final corner, Schouten and Groenewoud led the pack with Blondin and Maltais right behind the orange tracksuits.
Blondin passed the Dutch women on the inside on the final corner to win the race with a dominant sprint, while Maltais also took the inside corner to edge out Yang Binyu (CHN) and Groenewoud for bronze.
Blondin didn’t want to explain the Canadian race plan, but she was happy with the execution.
“Val and I were more prepared for this one. We each had roles. I don't want to give away (the strategy) obviously, it's pretty apparent what our tactics are. It was really fast, because there were so many attacks. Everyone was pretty tired in the last four laps of the race, so at the end of it, it's just like who's more resilient.
“Tactically, I set up the last corner really well. Doing short track and everything this year, and speed cable that I do behind the boys, I'm always doing overspeed, so I'm very comfortable on fast ice when there is tight turns.”
Schouten praised Blondin for her dominant sprint, but was frustrated about how the race unfolded.
“If we (Groenewoud and Schouten) don’t do anything, nothing happens. It’s awkward because we don’t want to go for the same tactics time and again, but we do want to make up for an exciting race. When it ends up being a parade every time, no one will come and watch it. I love this event, so we make the effort and that cost us a little too much in the end, I think.
“It’s fast ice, so it’s easy (for the others) to glide along in the draft without wasting too much energy. Normally I’ve got something left in the tank for the final straight, but today Blondin clearly had more speed.”
Irene Schouten held on for silver in the Mass Start at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Maltais was happy to claim bronze and overtake over Mia Manganello Kilburg (USA) on top of the World Cup ranking. The American finished 11th on home ice.
Maltais had a different view of the race than Schouten, particularly her work with Blondin.
“Today we really worked well together and at some point it was just improvisation. I think even for the Dutch, nobody knew exactly what to do. It was a fun race, obviously because of the podium, but just because it was a mix and match and it's not the same thing as what it is usually. It was a fast race, non-stop, always attacking each other.
“After I chased Marijke, I thought that might be it for my race. It was a good effort, but I was able to recover and at the end just wait for the sprint. I don't know where everyone was placed, but I managed to pass on the inside.”
Valérie Maltais leads the Mass Start before finishing third, .01 seconds ahead of Yang Binyu, at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Relay Mixed Gender
Just 30 minutes after finishing the Mass Start, Blondin teamed up with Zhao for the Relay Mixed Gender, a new event first featured at this season’s first World Cup in Obihiro, Japan. Salt Lake City hosted the second race.
Sun and Jin won the third heat — and gold — with a solid 1.12-second victory over Hendrik Dombek and Anna Ostlender (GER), who eventually took silver.
Lee Na-Hyun and Yang Ho-Jun (KOR) edged Canada by .04 seconds for bronze.
China won Relay Mixed gold ahead of Germany and Republic of Korea at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Germany’s Dombek was happy his first World Cup podium. It was also the first for Ostlender.
“It feels great. It’s great to get a first medal at the World Cup and also at the new event. In the last years, we skated a lot of B Divisions, and now for me some A Divisions and Anna is also developing.”
He also enjoyed the new event.
“We did it in Obihiro together and we saw that it’s a fun event. Everybody loved it, so we trained for it a few times. It has not the highest value of course, because it's new and it's not like the single events, but I think, in the future, it's going to be important because everybody's doing mixed gender events. It's a cool event, and it's getting more and more important.“
Goetz seizes bittersweet 1000m gold
Goetz skated 1:13.08 to win the women’s 1000m on Sunday. She was .23 seconds slower than she was on Friday, when she finished second to Takagi in the first 1000m of the Salt Lake City weekend.
“(It’s) good to win, but I wish Miho skated. I know I had a really big drop from lap one to lap two. So I feel like she (Takagi) would have gotten me, but I would like to win when everybody's here and everybody's at their best. Of course, you can only race who's there, but it's hard not to think what would have been.”
Kimi Goetz won 1000m gold at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA on Sunday © ISU
By winning gold, Goetz overtook Takagi on top of the World Cup ranking, but that didn’t change her plans for next week, when she will train in Salt Lake City instead of competing at the final World Cup in Quebec, Canada.
“It's bittersweet. Obviously I would love to clinch the overall World Cup title and try to battle it out with Miho in Quebec, but (I’m) just trying to keep the eyes on the main focus of the season and not let the money or the title distract from that.”
Jutta Leerdam (NED) took silver in 1:13.17, making amends for her disappointing 11th-place finish on Friday. She has been struggling with a stiff ankle for a few months.
“This feels a bit better (than Friday). It’s different every day, but today was a lot more stable, so I hope it’s going upwards from now on, but you never know. I just haven’t got anything to say. It’s very precarious.”
Jutta Leerdam took 1000m silver on Sunday at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Leerdam will also stay in Salt Lake City instead of traveling to Quebec.
Femke Kok (NED), who claimed bronze in 1:13.21, will take on Takagi at the final World Cup of the season.
“(The bronze medal) feels good, even though I’ve got mixed feelings about my race. I started super good, my first full lap was great, but on the final backstretch (pairmate Erin Jackson, USA) stayed in the middle a bit long so I couldn’t get past her. If you look at the margins on the podium, I might have done even better.”
Femke Kok was third on Sunday in the second 1000m race of the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Kok did not qualify for the 1000m World Single Distance Championships due to a crash at the Dutch nationals.
“That’s really sad, especially when you see that I’m so competitive, but it’s just very strict in the Netherlands. But I’ll have a good 1000m at the World Sprint Championships (March 7-10 in Inzell, Germany).”
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ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Nov 10-12, 2023 Obihiro /JPN
Nov 17-19, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 01-03, 2023 Stavanger /NOR
Dec 08-10, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Jan 26-28, 2024 Salt Lake City /USA
Feb 02-04, 2024 Québec /CAN
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