Weekend Roundup: Team Canada claims three world championship titles
Between world championship titles and victories at home and beyond, Team Canada came out on top this weekend.
Catch up on everything you missed 😎
World Champions 🏆
READ: Speed Skating: Bloemen wins gold, Fish takes bronze at world championships in Utah
Ted-Jan Bloemen, Graeme Fish and Ivanie Blondin were crowned world champions at the ISU World Single Distances Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend after winning the 5000m, 10000m and mass start respectively.
Team Canada also claimed six other medals on the long track at Utah Olympic Circle, including silvers from Bloemen and Fish, a silver from Jordan Belchos, and three bronze courtesy of Laurent Dubreuil (1000m), Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (men’s mass start) and Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais (team pursuit).
READ: Laurent Dubreuil skates to bronze at Salt Lake City world championships
Breaking 🔨 the world record
READ: Graeme Fish skates to world record, Canada wins three more medals at Salt Lake City worlds
Not only did Graeme Fish take the 10000m title, but he set a world record doing it. He broke teammate Ted-Jan Bloemen’s 10000m record after crossing the finish line in 12:33.868. Following his victory, he broke the record again… literally.
More skating medals ⛸
READ: Cedrik Blais skates to short track silver in the Netherlands
READ: Short Track: Team Canada wins a trio of medals, including gold in the Netherlands
Team Canada also had a successful weekend on the short track, claiming four medals in Dordrecht, Netherlands on the ISU’s final World Cup stop this season.
Cedrik Blais got the ball rolling for Canada, capturing his first-ever World Cup silver in the men’s 1000m race on Saturday.
On Sunday, Canada was able to claim three more medals, including a gold in the men’s relay event. The men’s squad consisting of Cedrik Blais, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Pascal Dion, and Charles Hamelin won the race in photo-finish time of 6:54.542. Steven Dubois also stood on the podium in the individual competition, claiming bronze.
Meanwhile, the women’s relay team with Danae Blais, Claudia Gagnon, Alyson Charles, and Courtney Lee Sarault skated to a silver medal.
Golden at Home
READ: Laurie Blouin snowboards to slopestyle gold, Liam Brearley captures bronze in Calgary
Laurie Blouin landed on the top of the podium in front of a Canadian crowd at the FIS Snowboard World Cup in Calgary on Sunday. She scored 79.56 points on her second run to win the event. In the men’s competition, three-time Lausanne 2020 medallist Liam Brearley stood on his first-ever World Cup podium, earning a bronze medal for his slopestyle performance.
Success on the Slopes ⛷
READ: MacKay and Karker ski to World Cup silvers in Calgary
READ: Megan Oldham soars to slopestyle bronze in Calgary
Canadian skiers also had a successful weekend at the Snow Rodeo in Calgary.
Brendan MacKay and Rachael Karker were first up on the podium for Team Canada. The duo won halfpipe silvers in the men and women’s competition at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup on Friday night.
Megan Oldham followed their lead on Saturday, skiing to a bronze medal on the final day of competition. She stood on the third step of the podium after putting up 80.70 points in women’s slopestyle.
Crystal Globe ✨
READ: Team Kripps slides to back-to-back bronze in Latvia
Justin Kripps won a Crystal Globe this weekend after finishing the bobsled season third overall in the world standings. This was the cherry on top of a successful weekend, where he slid to back-to-back bronze in the 2-men bobsleigh at the IBSF World Cup this weekend in Sigulda, Latvia.
READ: Bobsleigh: Kripps and Coakwell slide to a World Cup bronze in Latvia
He captured his first medal of the weekend on Saturday alongside Ben Coakwell, then partnered with Sam Giguere on Sunday to reach a second podium.
Bouncing to 🥉
Samantha Smith won her first career World Cup medal on Sunday. The 27-year-old jumped to a bronze medal at the Trampoline World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan to capture vital Olympic qualification points for Team Canada.
Making 🎾 History
READ: Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime advances to Rotterdam Open finals
Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the Rotterdam Open finals this weekend to became the tournament’s youngest finalist in its 48-year history. Despite falling to Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4 in the championship match, Auger-Aliassime now sits in the ATP’s Top 20 at No. 18.
Fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil also moved up in the tennis rankings, cracking the top 100.
