Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada competes during the men's 5,000 meters race at the finals of the World Cup speedskating at the Minsk-Arena Speed Skating Stadium, in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, March 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
March 17, 2018 - 2:51 PM
MINSK, Belarus - Calgary's Ted-Jan Bloemen and Ottawa's Ivanie Blondin earned gold and silver individual speedskating medals Saturday at the 2018 ISU World Cup final.
Bloemen, of Calgary, finished fifth in the men's 5,000-metre event but still clindhed the overall 5,000-10,000 title. Norway's Sverre Pederson won the race in six minutes 22.15 seconds to finish second in the overall standings.
Bloemen posted a time of 6:26.38.
Last month, Bloemen set an Olympic record on his way to winning gold in the 10,000 metres and claimed Canada’s first individual title in an Olympic speedskating discipline in 34 years.
"This was the perfect ending to an amazing season for me," said Bloemen, who finished second overall last year. "After becoming Olympic champion, it has not been easy to get ready for this World Cup final, but I wanted to win my first World Cup overall title.
"I am so grateful for everyone that worked so hard with me to get here."
Blondin, of Ottawa, was third in the final 3,000-metre race of the season with a time of 4:11.77. That gave the Canadian second in the overall standings in that discipline (439 points) behind Antoinette De Jong of the Netherlands (445).
De Jong won Saturday's race ahead of Marina Zueva of Belarus and Blondin.
"Well, I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished today," Blondin said. "After a very long season, it was great to have a race that felt good and was very satisfying.
"I'm proud to be on both podiums."
Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, Que., was eighth in the first of two men's 500-metre events and currently stands fourth in the overall standings. But he still has a shot at second going into Sunday's final.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2018