Team Canada with Carolina Hiller, left, Brooklyn MCDougall, centre, and Ivanie Blondin of Canada, right, compete to win the women's Team Sprint of the Speedskating Single Distance World Championships at Thialf ice arena Heerenveen, Netherlands, March 2, 2023.Peter Dejong/The Associated Press
Canada’s trio of Carolina Hiller, Maddison Pearman and Ivanie Blondin claimed World Cup bronze in the women’s team sprint in long track speedskating action on Sunday.
The Canadians finished the three-lap sprint with a time of one minute 28.34 seconds. The United States won gold in 1:27.92 and the Netherlands grabbed silver in 1:28.17.
It was Canada’s second women’s team sprint medal this season, having won silver at a World Cup stop in Beijing. Hiller replaced teammate Brooklyn McDougall, who competed in the Chinese capital.
“It feels great to be able to race the team sprint again and it’s very empowering that we have a great group of women that we can interchange and still reach the podium,” Hiller said. “I am very proud of us.”
Sunday’s bronze was the lone medal of the day for Canada at the competition.
Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., fell just short of adding a second medal to her weekend, finishing fourth in the women’s 5000 metres. Maltais grabbed silver in the mass start on Friday.
Ted-Jan Bloemen’s silver in the men’s 10,000 on Saturday also contributed to Canada’s three medals at the first of two European World Cups.