Orléans
speed skater Ivanie Blondin has added another world championship
silver medal to her collection after placing second in
the ladies mass start event at the World Single Distance
Championships in Inzell, Germany last weekend.
The
accomplishment was no small feat owing to the fact that
see had to come back to the lead pack after being tripped
up and sent sprawling to the ice on the 10th lap. She
was able to recover and eventually took the lead on the
next to last lap before being passed by the Dutch skater
Irene Schouten in the race to the finish line.
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Silver
medalist Ivanie Blondin is all smiles as she
joins gold medalist Irene Schouten and bronze
medalist Elizaveta Kazelina on the podium
following the women's mass start at the World
Single Distance Championships in Inzell, Germany
last weekend. SPEED SKATING CANADA PHOTO
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"I'm
pretty ecstatic about the result today,� Blondin told
reporters after the race. "I sacrificed my 1500m race
today to save my legs for the final sprint. I was able
to start the final sprint a bit earlier and create a gap,
so I'm really happy with my decision and race plan.�
The Gloucester
Concorde member now has three world championship medals
in her collection. She previously won the gold medal in
the mass start in 2016 and a silver medal in 2015.
The race
was eerily reminiscent of the mass start semi-final at the
Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea last year when Blondin
was unable to recover from a late fall and ended up missing
the final.
Besides
the mass start event, Blondin placed sixth in the 5,000
metres in Inzell and fourth in the women's team pursuit
with fellow Concordes member and Orléans native Isabelle
Weidemann, and Quebec skater Val�rie Maltais.
Weidemann
also placed fourth in the 5,000 metres in apersonal best
time of 6:56.13. It was her best ever result at the World
Championships.
The Canadian
team will now prepare for the World Allround Championships
taking place in Calgary from March 2-3.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
THE ORLÉANS BREWING CO. presents Oyster Wednesdays every Wednesday Co. is located at 4380 Innes Rd. near the Innes Road McDonalds. For more information visit 
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