Valerie Maltais has put Canada on the board.
The speedskater captured bronze in the women’s 3,000 metres on Saturday, giving Canada its first medal of the Winter Olympics.
Competing in her fifth Olympics, Maltais, 35, earned her third career medal.
“I felt confident and I feel not surprised, but I feel relieved. I’m really emotional right now. It’s something that since the beginning of this season, I said to my team around me, I said ‘I need something more,’” Maltais, who broke down into tears when her bronze was secured, told CBC Olympics after the race.
The La Baie, Que. skater won a short-track silver in relay in the 2014 Olympics before making the transition to long-track in 2022 and joining forces with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann to win team pursuit gold.
On Saturday in Milan, Maltais raced in the third-last pair and was second overall after crossing the line in three minutes 56.93 seconds. She also was second in her heat as Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida put down an Olympic record of 3:54.28 to win gold.
“I just hope I can finish media so I can eat cake,” Lollobrigida told CBC Olympics.
Maltais dropped to third when Norway’s Ragne Wilund edged her out in the second-last pair in 3:56.93.
Maltais held on for bronze when the Netherlands’ Joy Beune ended up fourth overall, more than a second behind the Canadian, in the final pair.
“It wasn’t easy. It was a challenge,” Maltais said. “We went all in, and that was the motto this season. We’re going all in and there’s no status quo. We’re taking a risk, but I had people around me who were really smart and made me comfortable that being uncomfortable made me better.”
Maltais came into the Games in good form. She won a silver and two bronze medals in four World Cup races at this distance this season.
It was the second medal in a row for Canada at the Games in the women’s 3,000. Four years ago on opening day, Weidemann took bronze in the same event for Canada’s first medal.
from Sportsnet.ca
via i9bet
No comments:
Post a Comment