Team Canada has won their third Olympic gold medal at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo. On Tuesday in the women’s speed skating team pursuit, the Canadian team of Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario, and Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Quebec defended their Olympic gold medal from the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais combined for a winning time in the final of two minutes, 55.81 seconds. The Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of two minutes, 56.77 seconds, Japan won the bronze medal as they defeated the United States. When Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais won their Olympic gold medal four years ago in Japan, they had a time of two minutes, 53.44 seconds.
Canada advanced to the semifinals by having one of the four best times in the quarterfinals. The Canadians had the fastest quarterfinal time of 2:55.03. Then in the semifinals, Canada beat the United States rather convincingly. Canada had a winning time of 2:55.92, while the United States had a time of 3:00.14.
This was the second medal of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games for Maltais. She previously won bronze in the women’s 3000 metres. Maltais has won four Olympic medals, Blondin has won three Olympic medals and Weidemann has won four Olympic medals.
