Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.
Ted-Jan Bloemen has a lot to skate for in the final season of his career.
The 39-year-old, who won Olympic speed skating gold and silver for Canada in 2018, wants to finish with no regrets.
“You’re doing a lot of things for the last time and you want to nail them, right?” he said Friday at Calgary’s Olympic Oval. “Just get them right one more time and give it everything you’ve got.”
The veteran athlete did that on the first of three days of World Cup racing.
Bloemen broke Sven Kramer’s 18-year-old Oval record in the men’s 5,000 metres and let out a roar of emotion when he crossed the finish line.
His record was short-lived, however, as it was beaten by Norway’s Sander Eitrem and then victor Casey Dawson of the United States to land Bloemen in third.
Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada finishes third in the men’s 5,000-metre final at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary with a time of 6:02.26.
“That was a pretty epic record. To go faster than that at the same venue, that means a lot to me,” Bloemen said.
“I was very much not sure I was going to win with that but I was just really happy to show that you know I’m up there and I’m in contention.”
Dawson finished the race in 6:01.84, two-hundredths of a second faster than Eitrem and 0.42 seconds ahead of Bloemen.
The Dutch-Canadian, who emigrated from the Netherlands to Canada in 2014, won the men’s 10,000 metres and was second in the 5k at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Bloemen was held off all World Cup and world championship podiums last season.
“Last season has been a difficult season. I changed my training a little bit over the summer and really, really worked very, very hard to get back to medal contention,” Bloemen said.
“Up till now this season, I haven’t had a race where I could really prove that. I was back. I knew it from training. I knew I was back but I wanted to so bad, I wanted to prove it. Today I did that.”
Bloemen and Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., ended a 2025 drought of sorts for the host team in Calgary.
Canadians were shut out of the medals in individual races in January at the previous World Cup at the Olympic Oval.
Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen discusses finishing third in the men’s 5,000-metre final at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary.
Maltais sets personal best
Maltais took bronze in the women’s 3,000 metres a week after a season-opening silver in Salt Lake City, but she was faster Friday.
The 35-year-old held off a late charge by Canadian teammate Isabelle Weidemann in their pairing to post a personal-best time of 3:56.45. Weidemann was fourth two tenths of a second back.
Maltais finished behind the Netherlands’ Joy Beune (3:54.42) and Norway’s Ragne Wiklund (3:55.25).
Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., finishes third in the women’s 3,000-metre final at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary with a personal-best time of 3:56.45. Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann just misses the podium with a fourth-place result.
“I had put some expectation on me and I wanted to be on the podium again, but my focus was again on my process and how I wanted to race that race,” Maltais said.
“I had a pair with Isabelle. She’s coming strong at the end and I wanted to make sure that I still have some energy at the end to to be able to fight which I did. This one feels really good.”
Maltais collected her fourth World Cup medal to start the season after her silver in the 3k, silver in the mass start, and team pursuit silver with Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin in Salt Lake City.
The trio will race team pursuit Sunday when Maltais and Blondin also compete in the women’s mass start.
Watch live coverage of the long track World Cup season on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. A full streaming schedule is available here.
Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., reflects on capturing bronze in the women’s 3,000-metre final at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary.
U.S. speed skating star Jordan Stolz took the men’s 1,000 metres in a duel with Dutch archrival Jenning De Boo.
The 21-year-old Stolz, who is a two-time world champion in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 metres, was second to De Boo for two laps before a late surge to claim victory.
“I was tired in the last lap, but I was still able to beat him,” Stolz said. “I was getting all my power into the ice. I knew that in the last lap a lot could happen. Last 50 metres, I was able to edge him out, so it was good.”
Dutch women finished first to fourth in the women’s 1,000 metres with Femke Kok emerging the victor.
