Canadian long-track speed skater Valérie Maltais secured a bronze medal in the women’s 3000m event at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Inzell, Germany, marking her third individual podium finish this season. She completed the race in 3 minutes and 59.920 seconds, narrowly beating Kazakhstan’s Nadezhda Morozova for the third spot.
The gold was claimed by Norwegian Ragne Wiklund, who set a new track record and personal best time of 3:54.74, while the silver medal went to Joy Beune from the Netherlands with a time of 3:56.960.
Expressing her satisfaction with her performance, Maltais stated, “I’m pleased with how I skated today. It was a consistent race, and I feel good about my performance. I anticipated Ragne’s fast start, so we focused on that in my race strategy.”
Following a successful training camp in Spain, Maltais highlighted that she is transitioning into her recovery phase and sees her performance as a positive sign, especially considering she has not yet reached her peak. Maltais now has five World Cup podium finishes in individual distances, all in the 3000m category. Her best result this season was in Salt Lake City, where she finished second ahead of Wiklund in November.
Having qualified for her fifth Olympic Games earlier this season, the women’s 3000m event at the Olympics is scheduled for February 7. Maltais, a native of Saguenay, Quebec, continues to showcase her prowess in long-track speed skating on the international stage.