Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin matched her 2022 Olympic performance in the mass start and won silver in the women’s speed skating competition in Milan on Saturday.

Taking third place with one lap remaining, the two-time world champion overtook American Mia Manganello and reached the finish line in 8:35.09, 39-100ths of a second behind gold medalist Marieke Groeneud of the Netherlands.8:34.70), 3 to 10 times faster than Manganello (8:35.39).

Blondin, 35, is the first Canadian woman to win multiple mass start medals at the Olympics.

She scored 40 points and was 20 ahead of Grunewaud (2 gold, 2 silver), a three-time world champion in mass starts and a medal podium finisher in four of the five World Cup races this season.

“Positivity has always been in me, and that’s been the driving force in my career and why I’m still here fighting for medals. I’m proud of that accomplishment,” Blondin told CBC Sports after the final Olympic race of his career.

This is Canada’s ninth bronze medal at the Games and 19th medal overall. Blondin also became an Olympic champion. women’s team pursuit On Tuesday, he will perform with Isabel Weidemann. Valerie Maltais

Blondin said this means the world is an inspiration to others in the sports world.

“It means the world to me. I had an older generation that inspired me in my career and made me fight as hard as I could. [be successful]” she said. [Olympic performance] inspire [others] Once you reach the top, let’s go. ”

During the race, athletes line up and complete 16 laps at the same time, which can lead to collisions and what some skaters call random outcomes. Skaters earn points during intermediate sprints that take place every four laps, with 3, 2, and 1 points available, which determine their placement within the top eight.

Martais, a native of La Baie, Que., put up a brave effort to take fifth place (six points, 8:36.10) in the 16-lap race at the Milan Speed ​​Skating Stadium after knocking off skates from an opponent and falling early.

Silver medalist in the last three world championships

She won Canada’s fourth speed skating medal at the Olympics in Italy on Friday. amazing bronze She added a bronze medal in the women’s 1,500m to her 3,000m.

Blondin, who is ranked No. 3 in the world in mass starts, has won silver medals at each of the past three world championships and this season won gold at the World Cup in Calgary. She also won silver and bronze at the circuit during the 2025-26 campaign.

This will be the 36-year-old Manganello’s third and final Winter Olympics. In November, she won her first individual World Cup gold medal, defeating Groeneud by one point in the mass start.

In the men’s category, Jorit Bergsma of the Netherlands, ranked number one in the world, proved his ability in the men’s mass start, winning the Olympic gold medal at the age of 40 with an overwhelming performance.

Bergsma, who also won bronze in the men’s 1,000 meters on February 13, is the oldest gold medalist in long track and Winter Olympic speed skating history.

Bergsma took the victory after leaving the field midway through the race with Denmark’s Viktor Hard Thorup.

He scored 68 points and finished in 7:55.50, five seconds ahead of Thorup (8:00.52), who had 47 points. Andrea Giovannini (Italy) won the bronze medal (8:04.42, 21 points).

Antoine Gerinas Beaulieu of Sherbrooke, Kenya, placed sixth out of 16 participants. He scored three points and ran a time of 8:04.76.

Jordan Stoltz of the United States finished fourth, missing out on a chance to win three gold medals in long track speed skating at an Olympics for the first time since 1994.

Stolz won the first two events in Milan, the 500 meters and 1,000 meters. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin also left Italy with a silver medal in the 1,500 meters.

There was much talk about whether Stolz would ultimately win the gold medal. Stolz was asked about it at the beginning of a press conference immediately after his two wins. The last male speed skater to win three long track gold medals in one Winter Olympics was Johan Olaf Koss at Lillehammer 32 years ago. The Norwegian won the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m.

Only two long track athletes have achieved more: Eric Heiden, also from Wisconsin, who went 5-for-5 with the United States at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, and Lidya Skoblikova, who won four women’s speed skating titles with the Soviet Union in 1964.