Ottawa native Isabelle Weidemann secured a silver medal in the women’s 5,000-meter race on Friday at the third leg of the World Cup speed skating series held in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Weidemann initially lagged in 10th place after completing five laps but made a remarkable comeback in the latter part of the race, ultimately finishing second with a time of six minutes and 50.11 seconds, trailing behind gold medalist Ragne Wiklund of Norway by 1.10 seconds. The third spot was claimed by Joy Beune of the Netherlands, clocking in at 6:51.83.
This victory marked Weidemann’s first individual distance podium of the season and her first since attaining the bronze in the 3,000m event at a World Cup competition in Beijing last year. Reflecting on her performance, the 30-year-old expressed contentment, stating, “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.”
Weidemann, a three-time Olympic medalist, now holds 137 points and ranks fourth in the long-distance standings with one more World Cup event remaining before the commencement of the Milan Cortina Games scheduled for February 6. Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin finished in 10th place with a time of 7:01.76, while Valerie Maltais from La Baie, Quebec, took the 12th spot at 7:06.69.
In another event on the same day, Canada’s Beatrice Lamarche from Quebec City claimed the sixth position in the women’s 1,000 meters, finishing in 1:15.13, just 0.96 seconds behind the winner, Jutta Leerdam from the Netherlands. Lamarche, aged 27, currently holds the third position overall in the distance rankings following her bronze medal win last month in Salt Lake City.
For those interested in following the competition, live coverage of the second day in Heerenveen can be viewed on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with the action set to resume on Saturday at 8:15 a.m. ET. The complete streaming schedule is available for viewing.
Stay updated with the latest sports news by watching the full replay of Day 1 coverage from Heerenveen through the provided link.
