Canada wins first Olympic gold medal in women’s track speed skating in Beijing – National

Canada won its first Olympic gold medal in women’s track track speed skating at Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday, after a horrific Japanese crash.

Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais trailed the Japanese throughout the final race for gold, although Canada has begun to close the gap after Weidemann’s rise to the top.

It looks like Japan – the defending champions of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang – will win a repeat gold medal, with the team skating in perfect precision throughout.

But the final round saw Takagi Nana stumble as Japan circled their final bend before finishing, sending her sliding against the wall as Canada took gold with a time of two minutes and 53.44 seconds.

All three skaters must cross the finish line together in a team chase.

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The Olympic Journey of Speed ​​cyclist Isabelle Weidemann

The Netherlands won the bronze medal after defeating the Russian Olympic Committee in the final B.

The last time Canada won a women’s team medal was a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Canada won a gold medal by the men’s team at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, the last time a man or woman won a medal in the track team event.

In Beijing, Canada ranked 5th overall in the men’s chase.

Tuesday’s Gold marks Weidemann’s third medal in Beijing, after winning silver in the women’s 5,000 meters and bronze in the 3,000 metres. This is a first for both Blondin and Maltais.

Maltais is also now the third athlete ever to win a medal in both long and short track speed skating. She won a silver medal in the short 3,000 meter relay at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.