Recent medalists Laurent Dubreuil and Ivanie Blondin lead a team that also includes rookies Yankun Zhao and Jake Weidemann
INZELL, GERMANY – Veteran national team members Laurent Dubreuil, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais lead a team of seven Canadian long track skaters set to compete at the ISU World Speed Skating Allround and Sprint Championships in Inzell from March 7-10, 2024.
This year’s edition marks the third time that the previously separate World Allround Championships and World Sprint Championships will be combined and hosted in the same location, something that was done only at the Vikingskipet in Hamar in 2020 and 2022.
Different from the single distance format used at the World Speed Skating Championships hosted last month in Calgary, this particular event sees skaters earn points based on their time in each distance and their combined total used to crown the overall champions.
The Sprint portion of the competition, which uses results from a pair of 500m and 1000m races, runs Thursday and Friday, while the Allround portion, which combines results in the 500m, 1500m, 3000m/5000m and 5000m/10,000m, takes place Saturday and Sunday.
Canada’s team for this final event of the international season includes a trio of veterans, as well as two skaters who will be making their career debut at this competition.
ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
- Laurent Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.)
- Yankun Zhao (Calgary, Alta.)
- Maddison Pearman (Ponoka, Alta.)
ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships
- Ivanie Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.)
- Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.)
- Abigail McCluskey (Penticton, B.C.)
- Jake Weidemann (Ottawa, Ont.)
Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.) enters the World Sprint Championships as Canada’s top medal hopeful.
The 31-year-old was crowned vice-champion at the event back in 2020, joining legends Jeremy Wotherspoon (9), Gaétan Boucher (5) and Mike Ireland (4) as the only Canadian men to reach the podium since the event was established in 1970.
His most recent experience at the event in 2022 was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Despite standing atop the standings after the first day of racing, the Olympic silver medalist from Beijing 2022 was forced to withdraw from the competition after testing positive for COVID-19.
For the World Allround Championships, teammates Blondin (Ottawa, Ont.) and Maltais (La Baie, Que.) both have what it takes to make a run at the podium.
In 2020, Blondin was crowned vice-champion, becoming the first Canadian women to reach the overall podium at the event since Christine Nesbitt in 2012. She joins Nesbitt, Cindy Klassen, Kristina Groves and Sylvia Burka as the only skaters to earn a medal at the competition, which has been taking place since 1936.
Meanwhile, Maltais, who finished this season’s World Cup campaign ranked first overall in the Mass Start and third-overall in long distances, earned a career-best 10th place finish at the event back in 2022.
The ISU World Speed Skating Allround and Sprint Championships will take place from March 7 to 10. The races will be live streamed on CBC Sports digital platforms – including CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem app – with commentary from Olympian Anastasia Bucsis and Signa Butler.