ZHANGJIAKOU | Canada won the first gold medal in its history in the women’s long track pursuit with panache, setting an Olympic record in the process.
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The Canadians froze the clock at 2 min 53 s 44 to dethrone the Japanese who had established a new mark on February 12 during the quarter-final round by virtue of a time of 2 min 53 s 61 and who were the reigning Olympic champions.
Champions in the cumulative World Cup for a third consecutive year, Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann had big goals when they showed up in Beijing, but they struggled to realize that they were Olympic champions.
“It’s unreal at the moment, expressed Maltais. Emotions are so big. By lining up at the start, we wanted to be proud of ourselves without putting pressure on ourselves. It’s a privilege to be in the final. Crossing the finish line knowing that we were champions, I mightn’t believe it.
Weidemann abounded in the same direction. “We still wonder if we are not dreaming, she imagined. We knew we had a good team, we knew we might put pressure on Japan and the other good teams, but I don’t know if we might imagine such a result.
Triple medalist
Weidemann becomes Canada’s first triple medalist at the Beijing Games; Maltais becomes only the third skater in history to win a medal in long and short track; and Blondin climbs to his first podium in three appearances at the Games following experiencing his share of disappointments.
“I don’t know yet what this medal means,” said Grondin. It is the fruit of all the efforts we have invested over the past four years.”
Despite a slow start that pushed them back to 1:05 following one lap, the Canadians ate away the seconds with Weidemann as the engine and closed the gap to 0:32 before Japan’s Nana Takagi crashed on the final corner before the finish. finishing line.
Canada won only its second medal in the women’s pursuit following winning silver in 2006 in Turin when the event entered the Olympic fold. On the men’s side, Canada has only one medal, the 2010 gold in Vancouver.
