Isabelle Weidemann from Ottawa secured the silver medal in the women’s 5,000 meters during the third leg of the World Cup speed skating season in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Competing alongside the gold medalist, Ragne Wiklund of Norway, Weidemann initially lagged in 10th place after the first five laps. However, both skaters picked up their pace in the latter part of the race, enabling Weidemann to advance to second place by the 12th lap.
Clocking in at 6 minutes and 50.11 seconds, Weidemann finished just 1.10 seconds behind Wiklund. The Netherlands’ Joy Beune claimed the third spot with a time of 6 minutes and 51.83 seconds. This achievement marked the 30-year-old’s first individual distance podium of the current season, following her bronze win in the 3,000 meters at a World Cup event in Beijing last year.
Weidemann expressed satisfaction with her performance, 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.” She also mentioned admiring Wiklund’s smooth skating style and her effort to keep up with her throughout the race.
With a total of 137 points, the three-time Olympic medalist currently ranks fourth in the long-distance standings, with one more World Cup event remaining before the Milan Cortina Games, scheduled to start on February 6. In the same competition, Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin finished in 10th place with a time of 7 minutes and 1.76 seconds, while Valerie Maltais from La Baie, Quebec, secured the 12th position with a time of 7 minutes and 6.69 seconds.
Additionally, on the same day, Canada’s Beatrice Lamarche from Quebec City clinched the sixth spot in the women’s 1,000 meters, finishing in 1 minute and 15.13 seconds, just 0.96 seconds behind the race winner, Jutta Leerdam from the Netherlands. With this performance, Lamarche, aged 27, now holds the third position overall in the distance category, following her bronze win last month in Salt Lake City.
To catch the second day of competition in Heerenveen live, viewers can tune in to 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 reference.