By Dan Plouffe
It was a fantastic finish to a career-best campaign for speed skater Ivanie Blondin. The 23-year-old Ottawa native capped her 2012-13 season by placing eighth in the 5,000 metres at the world single-distance speed skating championships in Sochi, Russia.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting that,” says Blondin, who posted a time of seven minutes, 13.16 seconds, racing in the first pair on the slow sea-level ice. “The lap times were really consistent and I posted a really good time. It was a great feeling.”
The first world championship medal of Blondin’s career eluded her at the March 21-24 event, however. The former Gloucester Concordes athlete was on pace for an easy podium position in the final pair of the team pursuit event, leading Christine Nesbitt and Brittany Schussler towards the finish line, but Nesbitt fell on the final turn, which put Canada in last out of eight countries.
“We’re obviously going to be a little disappointed,” notes Blondin, calling the crash a “team responsibility” since they knew Nesbitt was tired from her earlier races. “Those things will happen. It happened at world championships, but we’re thankful it wasn’t at the Olympics.”
Except for increased security procedures at the Sochi test event, Blondin didn’t get much of an Olympic vibe from the 2014 host city – it felt more like a construction zone, she highlights. It was nevertheless “pretty cool” to be at the place where she now has a very strong chance at returning next year wearing Canadian colours.
“Not that I’m expecting it, but I’m more confident in making that team,” explains Blondin, who also earned Canada’s best world championships result in the 3,000 m, in 15th. “My performances, not just nationally but internationally, I think have proven that I deserve to be on that Olympic team in the longer distances and also the team pursuit.”
The former Garneau high school student won four World Cup team pursuit medals (a gold, two silver and a bronze) this season, plus a pair of silvers in the mass start en route to an third-place overall ranking for the season in the event. Blondin is particularly well-suited for the two-season-old mass start discipline – a long-distance race featuring many skaters who accumulate points based on their positioning after certain laps and at the finish – thanks to the tough years she spent in Montreal at the national short track training centre as a teenager.
“I definitely feel like I’ve got an advantage,” signals the athlete who competed at both short and long track world junior championships. “It’s so much fun. It’s like short track on long track. I’m more in my element. I’m really comfortable skating around people.”
Still room to rise
Despite her success, Blondin feels like there are still improvements to be made, which she believes will come gradually since teammates such as Schussler, Nesbitt and Kali Christ are there to push her daily.
“Long track is a slower progress,” Blondin underlines. “The years go on and you build your capacity in training, and every year you take on a bigger load and get that little bit stronger.”
The 2012-13 season represented Blondin’s biggest load yet. She was on the road 160 days of the year for competitions and training camps, including a Christmas Day flight home to Ottawa – one day after she and long-time boyfriend Eric Menard got engaged.
“It’s been quite the crazy year, but it’s been a great year,” smiles Blondin, who plans to get married the summer after the Olympics.
After competing in Sochi, Blondin went straight back to her parents’ new home in Rockland for a month of rest – satisfied with the year she had, but antsy to get back to training with her season suddenly complete.
“It’s not an easy road,” Blondin shares. “People see you at the top, and I feel like they only ever see you at the top. When you’re at the bottom, they don’t really pay attention to you, so they don’t really see the road that you take to get to that place.
“You go through ups and downs. Last year was a complete write-off. I was sick all year with mono and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. But it’s those things that make you stronger. You push through them, you come out of it and you become a stronger person and a stronger athlete.
“To be able to post results like I did this year, it’s such a great feeling looking back.”