ALBERTA – Canadian long distance specialists Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish both reached the podium in the men’s 10,000m on Sunday, capping off the most successful ISU World Speed Skating Championships in national program history. The host Canadians – who were welcoming the World Championships to Calgary for the first time since 1998 – took advantage of home-ice advantage to win a record 10 medals, surpassing their previous best of nine medals, a feat accomplished in 2007, 2008 and 2020.
Fish (Moose Jaw, Sask.) kicked off the first of six pairs in the 10,000m by posting a time of 12:48.61, a mark that stood until his teammate Bloemen (Calgary, Alta.), skating in the fourth pair, edged him out by stopping the clock at 12:47.01. The Canadian duo held the two top spots on the board until the very last pair, where Italy’s Davide Ghiotto skated a personal best time of 12:38.82 to claim the world title.
Sunday’s result marked only the second time Canada had two skaters on the World Championship podium in the 10,000m. Fish and Bloeme also shared the podium four years ago in Salt Lake City, where Fish won gold, in world record time, and Bloemen silver. The 37-year-old Bloemen also won World Championship silver (2016) and bronze (2023) over the course of his career.
A few Canadians also came close to the podium in individual distances on Sunday. Isabelle Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.) and Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.) fell just short in the women’s 5000m, finishing fifth (+7.75) and sixth (+14.89), respectively. Joy Beune (6:47.72) of the Netherlands was crowned world champion, ahead of teammate Irene Schouten (+1.26) and Martina Sáblíková of Czech Republic (+4.16), who captures her 26th career World Championship medal.
Meanwhile, Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.) was the top finisher in the women’s 1500m, her time of 1:53.41 placing her sixth overall, behind medalists Miho Takagi of Japan (1:52.29), Mei Han of China (+0.43) and Buene of the Netherlands (+0.62). This weekend’s performances caps off a successful international campaign for Canada, who in addition to their 2 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze at the World Championships, also won an impressive 23 World Cup medals across six events, including four on home ice in Quebec City earlier this month.
A handful of National Team members will take part in the ISU World Sprint and Allround Championships in Inzell from March 7-10, while others will skate at the Long Track Canada Cup Final in Calgary from March 8-10, where they will fight for rankings points and spots on next season’s National and NextGen teams.