(Montreal) The World Cup in Obihiro, Japan, marked the start of the long track speed skating season on Friday. Valérie Maltais was present for this first meeting of the campaign by placing fourth in the mass start.
Maltais and her Ontario teammate Ivanie Blondin quickly placed themselves at the front of the peloton on the first lap before wisely falling back to leave plenty of room for the skaters who launched into the first intermediate sprint.
Maltais returned to the heat of the action afterwards, winning three points in the second intermediate sprint.
On the last lap, Maltais and Blondin were able to work together to catch the South Korean Boreum Kim, who had escaped a little earlier. A group of four skaters then formed in the final straight.
Blondin stood out from the crowd to claim a first gold this season while the Dutch Esther Kiel finished in second place (0.34 seconds). The American Mia Kilburg-Manganello completes the podium in third place (0.47 seconds), just ahead of Valérie Maltais who has to settle for fourth place (0.94 seconds).
“I’m still happy with my race. I made a few tactical errors, especially at the end. I realized that I have more speed than last year. Next week, I will be able to start my sprint differently and I think that could get me on the podium. I feel great! », Mentioned Valérie Maltais.
Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu was also in action on Friday in the mass start on the men’s side in Obihiro. He achieved the same result as Maltais, finishing fourth, 0.44 seconds behind the winner, Dutchman Bart Hoolwerf.
Belgium’s Bart Swings (0.02 seconds) and Switzerland’s Livio Wenger (0.03 seconds) completed the podium behind Hoolwef, finishing second and third, respectively.
Very patient in the middle of the pack during the first 15 laps of the track, Gélinas-Beaulieu opened the machine at the end of the race to secure his fourth place, ahead of the Italian Andrea Giovannino by a stride.
As for him, Laurent Dubreuil would probably have hoped for a better scenario to start the 2023-2024 World Cup season. The world vice-champion in the 500m did not have the day he had hoped for in Obihiro, finishing seventh in the 500m event with a time of 35.08s (0.56 seconds).
Dubreuil mentioned that he injured his back a few days ago and was not able to fully recover before going into action on Friday.
“It wasn’t the day I was hoping for. I hurt my back three days ago in training. I was in pain at first and was limited in my movements. Doing 9.78s at the start is really not good! It’s difficult to compete with the best when I’m not faster than that at the start,” said Dubreuil.
The Japanese monopolized the podium in the 500m while the gold medal went to Tatsuya Shinhama who was ahead of his compatriots Wataru Morishige (0.17 seconds) and Yuma Murakami (0.30 seconds) in order.
In the 1000 m, Dubreuil was unable to do better than 18th place due to his time of 1 min 10.26 seconds (1.91 seconds). Once again, his back pain limited his movements and he was not able to put all the rubber on.
“I was able to save the furniture at the end of the race in the 500m, but really not in the 1000m. I got beaten pretty easily by everyone. I did what I could, but I was really stiff! I hope things will get back on track by the end of the weekend,” added Dubreuil.
In action in the men’s 1000m in Group B, David La Rue placed fifth, 1.05 seconds behind the winner, Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama.
For her part, Béatrice Lamarche finished ninth in group B in the women’s 1000m. The race was won by the Japanese Rio Yamada.
Action resumes Saturday at Obihiro’s Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi oval as Béatrice Lamarche (500m and 1500m), David La Rue (1500m and team pursuit), Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (1500m and team pursuit team) and Valérie Maltais (1500m and team pursuit) will be in action.
