Valerie Maltais of Canada secured the silver medal in the 3,000-meter event, with Beatrice Lamarche clinching the bronze in the 1,000 meters at the season’s inaugural speed skating World Cup competition on Friday.
In a time of three minutes and 56.53 seconds, Maltais achieved a personal best. The gold went to Joy Beune of the Netherlands with a time of 3:53.698, while Ragne Wiklund claimed the bronze in 3:57.19.
“I’m pleased with my performance and how I prepared for today,” Maltais expressed. “I had a productive summer of training, and I had confidence in my abilities to deliver strong performances. The goal was to kick off the season on a high note, but you can never be sure where you stand.”
“The competition in the 3,000 meters at the international level is fierce, so I aimed to be well-prepared and deliver my best performance today.”
The 35-year-old from La Baie, Quebec, previously secured a team pursuit gold in Olympic-record time alongside Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann during the 2022 Winter Games.
Maltais also represented Canada as a short-track speed skater in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics, earning a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Games in the 3,000 team relay.
Weidemann, from Ottawa, finished in fifth place, while Blondin, also from Ottawa, claimed the eighth spot in the 3,000 meters on Friday. Laura Hall from Calgary finished in 13th place.
In the meantime, Lamarche secured her first individual-distance World Cup medal and became the first Canadian woman to reach the 1,000-meter podium on the circuit since Christine Nesbitt in 2012-13.
The 27-year-old from Quebec City achieved a personal best of 1:12.77, just shy of the Canadian record of 1:12.68. Jutta Leerdam (1:12.35) and Femke Kok (1:12.43), both from the Netherlands, claimed the gold and silver medals.
“After my race, I