Canadian long-track speed skater Valérie Maltais secured her third individual medal of the season by clinching the bronze in the women’s 3000m event at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Inzell, Germany. Maltais, aged 35, finished the race with a time of 3:59.920, narrowly beating Kazakhstan’s Nadezhda Morozova (4:00.198) for the final podium position.
Norwegian Ragne Wiklund dominated the race, setting a new track record and personal best of 3:54.74 to claim the gold medal. Joy Beune from the Netherlands secured the silver with a time of 3:56.960.
Expressing her satisfaction with her performance, Maltais stated, “I’m pleased with my race today. It was consistent, and I believe I skated well. Knowing Ragne would start quickly, we focused on that in my race strategy.”
Following a successful training camp in Spain, Maltais mentioned that she is entering her recovery phase, signaling positive progress as she has not yet reached her peak form. This result serves as a confidence boost as she prepares for the upcoming Olympics.
With this latest achievement, Maltais has now earned five World Cup podium finishes in individual distances, all in the 3000m category. Her standout performance this season was in Salt Lake City, U.S., where she finished second ahead of Wiklund in the November event.
Hailing from Saguenay, Quebec, Maltais secured her spot for her fifth Olympic Games earlier this winter. The women’s 3000m event is scheduled for February 7th.