MILAN – They held onto their Beijing success too lengthy.
Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais agree they had been gradual adapting to modifications in speedskating’s group pursuit after successful Olympic gold in Beijing in 2022.
“The technique that we used on the Olympics felt so good for us, and so we saved utilizing it,” Weidemann stated.
Being shut out of World Cup podiums final season and barely qualifying for the pursuit on the 2025 world championship was a wake-up name for the Canadian trio.
“Final 12 months was an entire bust,” Blondin stated.
Group pursuit is three athletes from one nation skating shut collectively in a single file, and dealing as one unit to finish six laps as rapidly as doable. The clock stops when the final skater of the three crosses the end line.
The place skaters beforehand rotated the chief by altering positions throughout the race, extra nations adopted a no-change formation post-Beijing, pushing each other with a hand on the again as a substitute.
“Technique-wise, different groups began doing no exchanges, after which they began closing the hole on us,” stated Blondin. “We had been fairly gradual with adapting to that.”
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Rotating to freshen the entrance engine appears intuitive, however Blondin identified that exchanges can price a group two-tenths of a second per lap.
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So the Canadians began this season with Ottawa’s Weidemann in entrance for all six laps, Maltais of La Baie, Que., within the center and Ottawa’s Blondin on the rear.
“The technique seems counterintuitive since you’ve obtained one individual on the entrance and also you assume try to be sharing the load, however truly on the entrance, particularly for the primary few laps, I’m actually counting on my teammates,” Weidemann stated. “I’m skating lap occasions on the entrance that I truly can’t skate on my own, so I’m going quicker than I’ve ever gone.”
The Canadian girls will try to defend their gold medal beginning Saturday within the quarterfinals on the Milano Velocity Skating Stadium.
“Once we present as much as the road, we’re all nervous, however we all know we are able to do it as a result of we’re going to begin collectively and end collectively,” Maltais stated.
The six-foot-two Weidemann is the metronome setting the tempo.
“My job is to do eight constant strides and hit the nook in the identical entry place each time and to not make any sudden actions on the entrance,” Weidemann stated.
Added Maltais: “For myself, being in second place, I’m actually capable of tuck in very well behind Isabelle and form of skate blindly and provides a extremely good push for Izzy.”
Blondin, a full foot shorter than Weidemann, has no pusher behind her. She needs to remain within the draft of her two teammates, and get her hand on the again of Maltais as a lot as doable, with the intention of crossing the end line tucking in beside Maltais.
“Loads of groups actually battle with that third spot,” Weidemann stated. “Ivanie, from her mass begin and short-track background as effectively, we prefer to say she’s unattainable to drop. You simply can’t do away with her. She’s so little, she’s so agile.”
Maltais’s transfer again to Quebec from Calgary after Beijing in 2022 additionally meant the Canadian girls skilled collectively much less.
“Earlier to Beijing, we had been coaching collectively each single day, so it turned very pure,” Blondin stated. “Over time, it simply turned tougher and tougher to skate in line behind one another and understand how the individual skates.”
So along with revamping formation, the three girls got here collectively in Calgary in August and Quebec Metropolis in October for pursuit-specific camps.
In addition they spent a number of days in Salt Lake Metropolis forward of the season’s first World Cup in November, after they positioned second simply three tenths of a second off their Canadian document.
The trio then positioned second in Calgary the next week and gained the final group pursuit in Hamar, Norway, earlier than the Olympic Video games.
“We haven’t felt like that since ’22, simply having the ability to nail it,” Blondin stated.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Feb. 13, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
