Canada's golden speedskating trio gears up for push to 2026 Olympic Games

Canada's Valerie Maltais, left, leads teammates Ivanie Blondin, centre, and Isabelle Weidemann during the women's team pursuit competition at the ISU World Cup speedskating event in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — Canada’s golden trio is gearing up for its last Olympic Games.

Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais, who won speedskating team pursuit gold together in Beijing, each did some mental and physical housekeeping in 2024 to ensure they would be ready for the next Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, in just over a year.

For Weidemann, Canada’s closing ceremonies flag-bearer in Beijing after claiming a complete set of medals, it was entering her first Ironman 70.3 race, which is a 1.9-kilometre swim, 90k bike ride and half-marathon in the spring of 2024.

“I needed something to focus on that was so new that I felt I had nothing to lose,” said the 29-year-old. “I needed to turn off my speedskating brain a little bit.”

Blondin, a mass start silver medallist in Beijing, spent last summer racing for a pro cycling team in the United States.

“It was really good for me to do something different, especially at my age,” the 34-year-old said. “I’ve been on the speedskating team since I was 14 years old, and just doing something different for an entire summer I think mentally was very refreshing.”

Maltais, who rounded out the victorious pursuit team in 2022, takes aim at the sixth Olympic Games of her career.

The 34-year-old married retired speedskater Jordan Belchos and completed the psychology certification in her multi-disciplinary bachelor’s degree last year.

“Like many things in life, there’s no perfect time. We’ve got to make time for what we really care for,” Maltais said. “You need to take a breath, enjoy and do what you like other than speedskating. There’s a smart way of doing it.

“We’re doing activities that will keep us sharp for on ice. Now we’re really getting into that last push.”

The three women lead Canada’s team of 28 skaters into an ISU World Cup on home 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 in the women’s 5,000 metres and bronze medallist in the 3k in Beijing.

Team pursuit isn’t on the race menu in Calgary, although it is next week in Milwaukee, Wis., in next 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 concentrate on their individual races in Calgary.

Weidemann and Blondin step to the line Friday in the first women’s 5k of the season. Blondin won the season-opening 3k and Weidemann placed third in the second.

Blondin and Maltais will race in Sunday’s women’s mass start, which brings short track’s jockeying and jostling for position to a 16-lap, head-to-head race that includes intermediate sprints for points.

Other Canadian contenders include Calgary’s Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Sask., who claimed world championship silver and bronze respectively in the men’s 10k last year. They race that distance Saturday.

Both Weidemann and Maltais are emphatic the 2026 Olympic Games will be their last. Blondin says it’s “mostly likely” hers.

“I feel pretty confident. I’m excited. I want to get on the podium again in women’s team pursuit and the mass start and maybe an individual distance,” Blondin said.

Weidemann and Maltais say they’re prepared to empty their tanks before they hang up their skates.

“People might think an athlete looking at retirement is checked out, (but) everybody in that boat has so much fire because they’re like ‘I only have one year.’ It’s only one year of training,” Weidemann explained. “I can show up every day and go out and crush myself and be purposeful with what I’m doing. I feel nervous for sure. A lot can happen in a year.”

Said Maltais: “It’s a special feeling to know that this is my last Olympic cycle. When I’m training, I really want to put it all out there. I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2025.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press