Valérie Maltais secured her second podium finish of the weekend by clinching the silver medal in the women’s mass start event at the final speed skating World Cup competition of the season. The 35-year-old athlete from La Baie, Quebec, completed the 16-lap race in a time of 8 minutes and 38.77 seconds, coming in behind Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands with a time of 8:38.32.
Reflecting on her performance, Maltais expressed satisfaction with how she felt during the race, especially after a challenging training period. She mentioned feeling surprised by her performance given her recent training block and emphasized her happiness with her physical condition. Looking ahead, Maltais expressed optimism about her future races and the possibility of further improvement.
In a previous event on Saturday, Maltais had also claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 3,000-meter race, further adding to her successful season. Her time of 3:59.920 secured her second podium finish at the World Cup event in Inzell, Germany, surpassing Nadezhda Morozova of Kazakhstan (4:00.198).
With this recent achievement, Maltais has now garnered a total of six World Cup podium finishes in individual distances, with most of her successes coming in the 3,000 meters event. Notably, she achieved her best World Cup result earlier this season in Salt Lake City, securing a second-place finish.
Having already qualified for her fifth Olympic Games this winter, Maltais is gearing up for the women’s 3,000-meter race scheduled for February 7. Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin narrowly missed the podium on Sunday, finishing just behind American Mia Manganello. Despite this, Blondin managed to secure a medal by teaming up with fellow Canadians to claim silver in the women’s team sprint event.
The Canadian long track speed skating team is set to continue their preparations for the upcoming Olympics with a week-long training camp in Inzell before heading to Italy for the main event. The racing action at the Milano Ice Park’s temporary oval in Rho is scheduled to take place from February 7 to 21.