Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa secured a silver medal in the women’s 5,000 meters at the World Cup speed skating event in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Competing alongside gold medallist Ragne Wiklund from Norway, Weidemann initially trailed in 10th place after the first five laps. However, both skaters accelerated in the latter part of the race, enabling Weidemann to advance to second place by the 12th lap.
Crossing the finish line in six minutes 50.11 seconds, Weidemann finished 1.10 seconds behind Wiklund. Joy Beune of the Netherlands claimed the third spot with a time of 6:51.83. This achievement marked the 30-year-old’s first individual distance podium of the season, following her 3,000m bronze win at a World Cup event in Beijing last year.
Expressing her satisfaction with her performance, Weidemann mentioned, “I’m happy with how things went today. I was having a hard time finding the pace. I kind of bounced around a bit — it was too slow, too fast, too slow. Once I found it and felt good. The last half, I think, was the best part. Generally, people start so much faster than I do. I was watching Ragne, and she was so smooth. I didn’t want the gap to get too big, and I was trying to keep her in my sights.”
With 137 points, the three-time Olympic medallist currently holds the fourth position in the long-distance rankings with one more World Cup event remaining before the Milan Cortina Games kick off on Feb. 6. In other results from the event, Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin finished 10th with a time of 7:01.76, while Valerie Maltais from La Baie, Que., secured the 12th spot in 7:06.69.
On the same day, Canada’s Beatrice Lamarche from Quebec City attained a sixth-place finish in the women’s 1,000 meters, clocking in at 1:15.13 and trailing 0.96 seconds behind the winner, Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands. The 27-year-old Lamarche currently holds the third position overall in the distance rankings after clinching bronze last month in Salt Lake City.
For those interested in catching the live action from Heerenveen, the competition’s second day can be viewed on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, commencing at 8:15 a.m. ET on Saturday. The complete streaming schedule is accessible through the provided link.