Canadian women on top, with speed skaters from Japan and the Netherlands in hot pursuit

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It seems that the Canadian women’s team chase team is as good as it was last season, when it was much better than it really had a right to be.

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The dynamic Canadian long track speed skating trio of Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann (if you need a nickname we suggest the BMWs because they are so fast) won the first race of the new World Cup season on Saturday in Poland. , surpassing the recognized world powers of Japan and the Netherlands.

It wasn’t very close. Maltais was at the front of the line, Blondin took over after a lap and a half and Weidemann finished with three fast laps. The margin at the end was 1.23 seconds over Japan and 2.41 seconds over the Dutch, which is an eternity in this event. That said, the Japan team was missing one of its main members after it tested positive for coronavirus at a training camp in Inzell, Germany and had to be quarantined.

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“We’re not really sure if that’s his A team or his B team,” Blondin said.

However, there was no question of the Canadians’ continued dominance over the Dutch team, as stalwarts Ireen Wust, Irene Schouten and Antoinette de Jong were on the ice at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. That’s three wins in the last four races for the Canadians over the Dutch, dating back to the Heerenveen bubble last January and February.

“We have really been trying to come together as a team and be a synchronized team and I think we did it today and I am very proud of what we did,” Blondin said in a media call on Saturday. “The end result, for me anyway, I don’t think it’s a big surprise given what we were able to do last season with just training together and also the run up to last year. It was not as good as it could be and we did not ice skate regularly and with everything that happened with COVID, losing our facilities. This year I think we are ready and ready to go and this is just another step in the right direction. “

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All those things could have done, maybe they should even have derailed Canadians. After all, Weidemann trained as hard as he could without ice to skate at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, which had a major technical problem. Maltais was in Montreal and Blondin joined her husband to train with the rest of the Hungarian national team in Europe. When the Canadian women were finally seen on the ice in Heerenveen, not much was expected. But there they were atop the podium at both World Cups in January, and just .17 seconds behind the Dutch at the February World Championships.

“The team chase completely blew me away,” Blondin said last month. “I didn’t expect to be at the top of the podium with those girls. … We hadn’t trained or been together for so long. Then you just throw us on the ice, it was like magic. “

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Or was it?

“It was a bit of fun watching the speculation,” Blondin continued. “The Dutch girls, after the first World Cup when we won them, they thought we were training in secret. It was really fun hearing what people were saying. Yes, we were training in a secret oval. Sure.”

Weidemann said he heard some “sarcastic comments” from other skaters about his “secret” training. And maybe that’s just part of being the favorite. If so, they will have to get used to before the Beijing Olympics.

“We want to be this force,” Weidemann said last month. “When we enter somewhere, we want to be confident. We want to show that we deserve to win and that we are strong contenders. If that means we take first place in Beijing, I think we would accept it. That would give us a lot of confidence and I think that’s a good thing for our team. We have built a lot with this team over the last three years. We have taken a long time from our personal best. It definitely gives us a lot of confidence ”.

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There is apparently more to give, as coach Remmelt Eldering said Saturday’s win is a good sign, but there is work to be done.

“There is still a bit of improvement. It’s a good way to start the season, knowing that we have to work on our goals and our fluidity to ensure we have the perfect race in February. “

First, however, there are three more World Cups before the Games, and one more day in Poland, where the action concludes with finals in the 500 meters, 1,000 meters for men and team pursuit, as well as the 1,500 meters for women and men. massive start.

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