Canada’s Valerie Maltais secured a silver medal in the 3,000 meters event, while Beatrice Lamarche claimed bronze in the 1,000 meters at the speed skating World Cup opener held on Friday. Maltais finished with a personal best time of three minutes and 56.53 seconds, with Joy Beune of the Netherlands clinching gold in 3:53.698 and Ragne Wiklund taking the bronze in 3:57.19.

Expressing her satisfaction with her performance, Maltais mentioned, “I’m very pleased with my race and my preparation today. I had an excellent summer of training, and I had confidence in my potential for strong performances. The goal was to kick off the season well, but you can never be certain of your standing.”

At 35 years old, Maltais, from La Baie, Que., previously won a team pursuit gold in Olympic-record time with Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann at the 2022 Winter Games. She also competed in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics as a short-track speed skater, earning a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Games in the 3,000 team relay.

On the other hand, Lamarche clinched her first individual-distance World Cup medal, becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the 1,000-meter podium since Christine Nesbitt in 2012-13. The 27-year-old from Quebec City finished with a personal best time of 1:12.77, slightly shy of the Canadian record of 1:12.68. Jutta Leerdam (1:12.35) and Femke Kok (1:12.43), both from the Netherlands, secured gold and silver, respectively.

Following her achievement, Lamarche expressed her delight, saying, “After my race, I was really happy just looking at the time, and then seeing that I got third, I just couldn’t believe it.”

The upcoming speed skating World Cup event is scheduled to take place in Calgary next week. Live coverage of the Utah leg of the World Cup circuit will continue throughout the weekend on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Viewers can find full details on when and how to watch by visiting the provided link.