(Posted 11:30 p.m., Jan. 18)
Local speed skater sets sights on future Olympics after failing to make short track team
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Orléans speed skater Ivanie Blondin surprised herself and Speed Skating Canada officials when she won the 3000 and 5000 metre events at the recent Canada Cup in Calgary. File photo

It's been an up and down six months for local speed skater Ivanie Blondin who began the season with high hopes of making the Olympic short track team, only to have those hopes dashed at the Olympic trials in December.

As a member of Canada's national development team, Blondin went into the season with a good shot at qualifying for the Olympic team in the 1500 and possibly the 1,000 metres, but at the first selection event held in August the skaters were told there was only one position available in the 1500 which put Blondin at a competitive disadvantage.

"The 1500 is my strongest event, but there are a lot of other girls who are strong in the 1500 as well, so I pretty much had to come in first at trials," says Blondin who lives and trains in Montreal.

Besides the pressure of wanting to make the Olympic team, the former Garneau High School student had to deal with a number of off ice issues that had less to do with skating. Without getting into details the situation did not lend itself well to a person trying to perform at their physical and mental best.

As things turned out, Blondin's Olympic dream was over long before the Trials were even held.

"I was dealing with a lot of issues mentally. Even before I went to Calgary I knew I wasn't going to make the team. It was a very difficult meet for me," says Blondin, who ended up finishing 8th in the 1500, 9th in the 1000 and 15th in the 500 to place 13th overall. It was her worse ever placing at a Natioinal Selection meet.

"It was very frustrating because at the summer camp in Vancouver I was right on their butts," says Blondin.

The former member of the Gloucester Concordes was so upset she considered hanging up her speed skates for good. But after returning home to celebrate an early Christmas with her parents and brother, Blondin decided to focus her attention on the Long Track Olympic Trials which were held in Calgary from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3.

The short track specialist went into the long track trials with nothing to lose and very little expected of her. After placing 21st in the 500 metres, which is her weakest event, she finished 7th in the 3,000 competing against much more experienced skaters including Clara Hughes and Cindy Klassen.

On Day 3 of the competition she placed 20th in the 1000 and followed that up with a respectable 9th place performance in the 1500 on Day 4. On the final day of the meet she placed 4th in the 5000, a distance she had never skated before in competition.

Although she failed to make the Olympic team, she regained a good degree of the self-confidence which she had lost during th short track Olympic trials. That confidence carried over to the Canada Cup, which was held last weekend in Calgary.

Although those skaters who had already made the Olympic team took the meet off, the competition still had plenty of high calibre talent, including skaters from around the world.

Blondin got off to her usual lacklustre start on Day 1, placing 20th in the first heat of the 500 and 5th in the 1500. On Day 2, she shocked everyone, including herself, when she won the 3000 metres finishing ahead of two Canadians who bested her at the Olympic trials. Her time of 4:14.76 was nearly four seconds faster than the time she turned in at the trials.

The next day she proved that her first place performance in the 3000 was no fluke by winning the 5000 metres in a time of 7:22.03 which was three seconds faster than fellow Canadian Keara Maguire from B.C.

"It was pretty amazing," says Blondin when asked about her double gold medal performance."I didn't think I do that well. I'm pretty young in terms of long track and I've only really been doing it for two years."

Blondin's performance caught the attention of long track officials who are already trying to convince her to concentrate on the discipline rather than continue trying to do both long track and short track.

After missing out on making the Olympic long track team in the 3000 and 5000 by two spots, Blondin is seriously considering the move although leaving short track won't be easy.

"It's really a big decision. It would mean mocing out to Calgary full-time and I don't feel like I'm done with short track yeat," says Blondin, while admitting she may feel differently once the season's over.

As for the Olympics, Blondin was supposed to act as a volunteer during the short track competition resetting the cones along the turns. She's now having second thoughts. In fact, she's not even sure she'll be able to bring herself to watch it on television, with one lone exception, she does plan to watch when fellow Concordes alumni and Orleans native Nick Bean competes for Italy.

"I'm so happy for him. We stay in touch on MSN all the time. He's getting pretty excited about it," says Blondin.

Bean, whose grandfather is Italian, decided to compete for Italy after he realized his chances of making the Canadian team were a long shot at best.

The short track events will take place between Feb. 13 and Feb. 26.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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