“It keeps me motivated,” says Blondin. “I think I’ve proven that I can do it.”

Blondin placed fourth in the women’s 3,000 meters on Friday at the Olympic Oval.

She will compete in the 1,500 before joining Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa and Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., in the team pursuit on Saturday.

“One of my goals this year is to be on the podium for 1,500 people,” said Blondin. “I know my pace is really high right now and I think I need this weekend to take advantage of it and try to execute.

“I hope I can put out something that will be fast enough to be on the podium.”

On Sunday, Blondin started his signature mass race consisting of the semifinals and final, as well as the 1000 meters.

Proper warm-up and nutrition, plus walking his dog Brooke morning and evening, is how he manages a physically and mentally intense racing schedule.

“I feel like I have a little less pressure on my shoulders now that I go home with two medals in the Olympics,” said Blondin. “I am probably nearing the end of my career. I don’t know. I’m taking it year after year at this point. I’m still doing well and just enjoying it.”

The Canadian men’s pursuit team finished second for the host nation’s only medal on Friday. The Calgary Oval is hosting back-to-back World Cups with another three-day race next week.

Connor Howe of Canmore, Alta., Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu of Montreal and Hayden Mayeur of Toronto finished second just over half a second behind the United States on Friday. Norway is in third place.

The Canadian trio collected their first medals of the season at the event. Howe and distance specialists Jordan Belchos and Ted-Jan Bloemen finished fifth in Beijing.

“That gave us a lot of encouragement,” Howe said. “This year we tried a little bit of new things, a new team with mid-range people to get an easier pace. If you can’t start fast enough, you can’t manage the time.

“Looks like it worked. If we think it’s good, we’ll work our way into the next Olympics and be a better competitor.

Howe leads the World Cup season standings in the men’s 1,500 meters. After winning and finishing second in his first two races of the season, he was sixth on Friday.

The 22-year-old said he lost speed late in the race and was also fixated on Norwegian Peder Kongshaug changing lanes on the final lap.

“It was an okay race,” Howe said. “It’s not far. I can’t be too sad. I think I can change it for next week.

Wesly Dijs of the Netherlands took the men’s 1,500 meters ahead of runner-up Zhongyan Ning of China and compatriot Kjeld Nuis in third.

Norway’s Ragne Wiklund took first in the 3k with Dutchwomen Marijke Groenewoud and Antoinette Rijpma — de Jong second and third respectively ahead of Blondin.

Olympic gold medalist Irene Schouten of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Weidemann battled for seventh and 11th respectively, in the final pair.

Min-Sun Kim of South Korea won the women’s 500 meters. Vanessa Herzog from Austria came in second and Jutta Leerdam from the Netherlands took third.

The women’s 1,500 meters and team pursuit, and the men’s 500 and 5,000 meters are held on Saturday, followed by the men’s and women’s 1,000 meters and mass starting on Sunday.

Blondin brushed off the “now what?” the post-Olympic blues he felt after Beijing found new purpose in training and racing.

She trained with the men early in her career and has returned to the group after concentrating for four years on the pursuit of the women’s team.

“I started training with the boys again which I think is a great change,” said Blondin. “I communicate more like a man. In the past, when I trained in that environment, the kind of advantage it gave me, it was more my mindset with the players and I really enjoyed working with them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 9, 2022.

Donna Spencer, Canadian Press