HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin power Canada to team pursuit gold, World Cup title

By Martin Cleary

What a wonderful, wild weekend for the Weidemann speed skaters.

Triple Olympic medallist Isabelle Weidemann and younger brother Jake had their names at or near the top of the results sheets during all three days of the fourth World Cup long-track speed skating competition in Hamar, Norway.

Now that the International Skating Union qualifying period for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games is complete, it will be interesting to see if the Ottawa athletes will be one of possibly two sister-brother teams to represent Canada at the upcoming sporting extravaganza in Italy.

Hannah and Jared Schmidt could form the other Ottawa sister-brother pair on Team Canada for the alpine skiing discipline of ski cross.

Isabelle continued her strong and impressive form in women’s long-distance racing, when her steady and even pace over 3,000 metres on Saturday allowed her to slowly climb the ladder and place second for the silver medal in four minutes, 1.30 seconds.

She prepared for that race on Friday by placing second in the women’s 1,500-metre B category race in 1:57.72. Her time would have placed her 13th in the 1,500-metre A final. Isabelle is trying to work her way back into the A series of racing for that distance.

Sunday served as a double celebration day as Isabelle, Ivanie Blondin of Gloucester and Valérie Maltais of La Baie, PQ, overcame the United States in the final 200 metres to win the women’s team pursuit gold medal, which allowed the experienced Canadian team to rebound and capture the World Cup champion’s globe.

Jake Weidemann also had breakout performances on Sunday, when he finished seventh in the men’s mass start. He briefly held the lead after the fourth lap. His effort improved his World Cup men’s mass start standing to 11th.

The often-ignored B-category races produced outstanding results for Jake as he won the men’s 1,500 metres in 1:46.32 and joined Canadian teammates Daniel Hall and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu to win the men’s team pursuit in 7:46.13. His 1,500-metre time would have tied him for 13th place in the men’s A race.

Jake also is working to break into the men’s A 1,500-metre group to race with the fastest skaters as well as helping Canada return to the top flight for the team pursuit.

The Canadian trio of Isabelle Weidemann, Blondin and Maltais raced against the Americans in the third of four pairs and barely held off the U.S.A. team – 2:57.20 to 2:57.29. Japan was third in 2:58.62.

It was Canada’s first women’s team pursuit victory this season in the third and final team race in that discipline this World Cup campaign. Canada was second in team pursuits in Salt Lake City and Calgary.

The defending Olympic champions entered the final team pursuit tied for first place in the World Cup point standings with Japan. But the victory gave Canada 168 season-ending points, while Japan was second at 156 points and the United States took third at 145 points.

One win and two second-place results was quite a reversal for the Canadian team, which didn’t win a medal in the 2024-25 World Cup season.

“We are really happy,” Weidemann said in a Speed Skating Canada press release. “Last season was difficult and we weren’t even close in the overall standings, so being able to deliver some solid performances, win two silver medals and one gold, gives us enormous confidence in our strategy and the work we’ve done.

“There are four or five very strong teams that will be able to reach the podium at the Olympic Games and we are trying to put pressure on them. It’s going to be a tough battle, that’s for sure.”

Canada’s race to gold in the women’s team pursuit started slow as the national team trio was in sixth place after the first two time checks and third at the third timing station. But for the majority of the race, Canada was locked in second place until its consistent pace allowed it to move into first place in the final half lap.

“I knew we were behind,” Weidemann added. “I slipped at the start and we were in catch-up mode for pretty much the whole race. We just tried to make up the lost time in the last few laps and we managed it, just barely.

“I know the girls talk a lot behind me, but I don’t hear them so much, when I’m out front like that. I’m just trying to go with as much power as possible, after the start and maintain a consistent pace. So, I didn’t really know where we were, but I knew we were a bit behind.”

In Weidemann’s 3,000-metre race, she opened with a time of 20.3 seconds for the first 200 metres, but followed with seven remarkable laps, where her times ranged between 31.3 seconds and 31.6 seconds.

By skating at that unbelievable pace for 2,800 metres, Weidemann slowly moved from sixth place to eighth to seventh to sixth to fourth to third and second at the end.

Racing against Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, Weidemann eventually overtook the home country favourite with a time of 4:01.30. Wiklund stopped in 4:01 41.

A second-place finish puts Weidemann in second place in the World Cup women’s long-distance points standings at 191 points. Wiklund is on top at 210 points, while Maltais is third at 194.

Weidemann has steadily improved throughout the 2025-26 season, finishing fifth in the Salt Lake City 3,000 metres, fourth in the Calgary 3,000 metres and second in the Heerenveen 5,000 metres.

“I’ve skated against Ragne quite a bit this season and we’ve gone back and forth,” Weidemann said. “I wanted to stay with her as long as possible. She starts really well and I wanted to hold onto her a little more than I did last weekend in the 5,000 metres.

“It takes me a while sometimes to find the right gear, but once I find the pace, it seems to click and that’s the point when others start to struggle. I think there’s a trust in my strategy.

“I’m watching people skate away from me because I don’t have the sprint in the beginning, but I know that when the pace starts to slow down, especially on slow ice like this, I can work a little bit.”

Ivanie Blondin also posted a two-medal World Cup weekend, celebrating not only the women’s team pursuit gold and the overall point title, but also a bronze medal in the mass start, where she is in third place in the circuit’s point standings.

A few hours after winning the team pursuit with Weidemann and Maltais, Blondin used her former short-track racing skills to stay at the top of the pack for the 16-lap race and finish third overall for the bronze medal.

In her first three World Cup mass start races this season, Blondin was fifth, first and fourth. There is one more mass start race this season before the Olympics.

“I think my first half of the season in mass starts was decent, but I made a few mistakes,” Blondin said in the Speed Skating Canada press release. “I just need to keep learning from them. Today was a completely different race.

“I thought the Dutch skaters would attack at the same time, but they didn’t because the pace was high throughout the race. It has been a long five weeks for me. I’ve kept training throughout it all, in addition to competing in almost every race in my usual events, so I’m looking forward to a little break.”

In her two earlier races on the Hamar Olympic Hall track, Blondin was 10th in both the women’s 1,500 metres (1:57.49) and the 3,000 metres (4:07.08). She is ranked eighth and 10th respectively in the World Cup 1,500 metres and long-distance point standings.

Gatineau’s Cedric Brunet skated two men’s 500-metre races, placing 17th (35.11 seconds) and 19th (1:01.99).

TWO TOP-10 WORLD CUP RESULTS FOR LOCAL BOBSLEDDERS

Pilot Pat Norton of Ottawa and crew members Luke Stoikos, Mark Zanette and Shane Ohrt placed ninth in the first of two World Cup men’s four-man bobsleigh races in Lillehammer, Norway.

In both of Norton’s heats, he started slow and increased his speed and placement position heading to the finish line. Norton had heat times of 50.10 seconds and 50.31 seconds for a final time of 1:40.41, which was 0.53 seconds behind winner Johannes Lochner of Germany (1:39.88).

Taylor Austin, Shaq Murray-Lawrence, Mike Evelyn-O’Higgins of Ottawa and Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson were 11th in 1:40.51. Austin recorded the eighth-fastest time in the second heat at 50.26 seconds.

The second four-man race saw the Austin crew charge into seventh place in 1:40.66, while the Norton team, which barely made the top-20 cut in the first run to have a second run, was 18th at 1:40.98. Austin’s second run was the seventh best at 50.32 seconds.

KATHERINE STEWART-JONES TAKES ‘A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION’

Nakkertok Nordic’s Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea placed an encouraging 28th in the women’s 20-kilometre interval start free race at the World Cup cross-country skiing stop in Davos, Switzerland.

Stewart-Jones, who was 46th in the sprint qualifier the previous day, finished 93.3 seconds behind winner Karoline Simpson-Larsen of Norway (26:34.9).

“I’m still happy with the result,” she told Sportcom in an interview. “I felt much better than last week, so I would say it’s positive. It’s not the best result I’ve had, but it’s a step in the right direction.”

Stewart-Jones added she managed her race well and “executed my plan well.”

At the Canadian Olympic cross-country ski trials at Sovereign Lake Nordic Club in Veron, B.C., Ottawa skiers are trying to build their cases to be selected to Team Canada for the 2026 Winter Games.

While the men’s and women’s winners in each of the six races over three days will receive an automatic Olympic nomination, the remaining team berths will be filled by the best-ranked skiers behind them.

On Monday, Katya Semeniuk of Nakkertok Nordic Racing was sixth in the women’s 10-kilometre interval-start free race in 32 minutes, 4.6 seconds, which left her 3:28.4 behind race winner Sonjaa Schmidt of Whitehorse Nordic. Kanata Nordic’s Helen McCulligh was eighth in 32:11.6.

In the men’s race over the same distance, Antoine Cyr of Skinouk was fourth in 25:17.1, but only 26.3 seconds behind winner Maximillian Hollmann of Big Thunder Nordic in 24:50.8.

Luke Allan of Nakkertok was seventh in 25:52.6, while clubmate Pierre Grall-Johnson tied for 12th at 27:30.9.

The Olympic trials opened Sunday with the 10-kilometre interval-start classic and Semeniuk and Cyr were the region’s best in the tracks.

Semeniuk took seventh place in 33:31.9 and was 2:25.8 behind winner Schmidt, while McCulligh was 16th in 35:43.6.

Cyr was only 18.8 seconds behind champion Tom Stephen of Foothills Nordic in the classic race as he placed third overall in 26:54.1. Allan finished ninth in 27:57.2 and Grall-Johnson took 22nd at 29:17.2.

The trials are scheduled to end Tuesday with the sprint free race.

NEPEAN WILDCATS TOP OTTAWA SENS IN DIFD GAME, OTTAWA LEADS NEPEAN 3-1 IN TEAM CANADA SELECTIONS

The Nepean Wildcats and Ottawa Senators junior women’s hockey clubs received an early gift a couple days before their annual pre-holidays Do It For Daron game on Sunday at the Bell Sensplex when four of their players were named to the Team Canada roster for the 2026 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.

Sens forward Jaylee MacKinnon will return to her home province of Nova Scotia for the Jan. 10-18 worlds in Sydney and Membertou. She’ll be joined by Nepean forward Maggie Hughson and Ottawa defenders Avery Jones and Kate Viel, who was part of Canada’s U18 world-champion squad last season.

A day after a humbling defeat, the Wildcats rebounded for a 3-1 victory over the Sens in the DIFD game, which also included showdowns between Nepean and Ottawa’s U15 and U18 AA teams before and after.

Breanna Bray scored two goals and Rio Francis had three assists to lead the way for the Wildcats, who improved to 23-4-1, while the Sens dropped to 14-11-3.

Mallea McMullin had an assist in the contest to pull into a tie for fourth in Ontario Women’s Hockey U22 Elite League scoring with 42 points in 27 games, as did Sydney Semiga, who’s also a top-10 scorer with 33 points, and MacKinnon for her 30th point of the season. Kylie Hollingsworth scored the other Nepean goal for point #31.

The Etobicoke Dolphins, who have earned 82 of a possible 84 points so far this season, confirmed they are undoubtedly the team to beat this season as they spanked second-place Nepean 11-3 on Saturday at the Nepean Sportsplex.

END NOTES

· Gloucester’s Jayden Shortt reached the semifinals in the Next Gen PSA Satellite men’s category at the Canadian junior open squash championships in Niagara on the Lake. After defeating Tyson Schille of Calgary 11-8, retired, and Erik Castillo of the United States 10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3, Shortt lost to top-seeded Abdelrahman Nassar of Cairo 11-5, 11-6, 11-8. Shortt finished third overall, after defeating Will Harris of Toronto 11-9, 13-11, 11-7. Ottawa’s Laila Bayaha posted a 1-1 record and reached the girls’ U15 round of 16.

· Sister and brother Hannah and Jared Schmidt qualified for Tuesday night’s scheduled World Cup women’s and men’s ski cross races in Arosa, Switzerland. Hannah placed in the middle of the pack at 18th and will race in eighth heat in the first round. Jared was 16th in qualifying and will be the fastest skier in the second of 16 heats for the men. The top two skiers in each race advance to the next round of bracket racing.

· Ottawa’s Shilo Rousseau helped Canada finish 16th in the women’s 4×6-kilometre relay at the World Cup biathlon races in Hochfilzen, Austria. She also was 74th in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint.

· Valérie Grenier of St. Isidore, ON, was 45th in the women’s downhill and 29th in the super-G during the World Cup alpine skiing stop in St. Moritz, Switzerland.