The Orleans Star March 3, 2022

Keep it up, Orléans!

We’re almost back to normal.

Dr. Sally Ing

Dr. Kat Muzar

chapelhilldental.ca 3400 Innes Rd., Orléans (at Pagé) 613.424.4241

March 3 • Volume 36, No. 21

Next edition March 17

Beacon Hill-er Canada’s newest Olympic hero

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star

Former Beacon Hill resident Isabelle Weidemann was chosen as Canada’s flag bearer in the closing ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. CANADA OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PHOTO

L’édition de cette semaine à l’intérieur...

Isabelle Weidemann is one of the most unlikely Olympic heroines you will ever meet and one of the most deserving at the same time.

She went into the Olympics with an outside chance to possibly win two medals. She came home with a matching set – one gold, one silver and one bronze – becoming only the second speedskater in Canadian history to win at least three medals at an Olympic games, the other being Cindy Klassen who won five medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Weidemann ended her Olympic experience by carrying the Canadian flag at the closing ceremonies.

That’s a far cry from her Olympic experience in PyeongChang in 2018 where she placed

seventh and sixth respectively in the 3,000 and 5,000 metres and a disappointing fourth in the Team Pursuit competing as a 21-year-old.

It was even a further cry still from her days competing with the Gloucester Concordes as a “gangly” 12-year-old when she would often get lapped in races by the other competitors.

What she lacked in skill and athleticism in those early days she made up for in hard work and an inner drive to compete and get better – and get better she did.

With her above-average stature, Weidemann is 6-foot-2, she was much more suited to long track speedskating than short track, which many Concorde members specialize in. By focusing on the one discipline, Weidemann began experiencing a moderate amount of CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21 • 1

T:5"

Closing ceremony flag bearer won three Olympic medals Continued from page 1 success and by the age of 16, she was winning races with an increasing amount of regularity.

She won the all-around title at both the 2013 Canadian Junior Championships and repeated the feat in 2014. That same year, she placed 4th and 9th respectively in the 3,000 and 1,500 metres at the World Junior Championships.

Weidemann graduated to the senior ranks in 2015 and immediately made an impression by placing 4th in the 3,000 metres at the Canadian Single Distance Chanpionships. A year later, she won both the 3,000 and 5,000 metres as a 21-year-old, establishing herself as the best long distance speed skater in the country.

Finding success on the international stage would take a little longer.

She won her first World Cup race in November 2018, competing in the 3,000 metres in Tomakomai, Japan and would go on to win two more silver medals that same World Cup season.

Unfortunately, she did not find the same

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success at the 2019 World Single Distance Championships where she placed 4th and 7th respectively in the 5,000 and 3,000.

At the 2020 Single Distance Championships, Weidemann placed 6th and 10th respectively at those distances.

Last year, competing in a pandemic bubble, she placed 4th in the 5,000 and 5th in the 3,000, setting herself up for a run at a possible individual medal in Beijing.

Winning three medals was beyond her wildest dreams.

“It’s never been something that I even thought I’d be able to do,” Weidemann said in a recent interview. “These Games have been so, so incredible. I really look forward to being able to go home and reflect on everything that’s happened.”

At just 25 years of age, Weidemann should be in her prime when the next Olympics take place in Cortina, Italy in 2026 where she will be looking to add to already impressive Olympic resume.

In the meantime, the Colonel By Secondary School grad plans to pursue a medical degree.

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2 • March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21

Redemption at last for Orléans speedskating queen

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star It’s been a long four years for Orléans native and three-time Olympian Ivanie Blondin. In 2018, she was one of the cofavourites to compete for the gold medal in the Mass Start event in long track speedskating.

Unfortunately, her dreams of winning an Olympic medal were dashed when she fell in the semifinal. It was arguably one of the lowest points in her life, but the École secondaire Garneau grad and Gloucester Concordes member was determined to give it one more shot and for the past four years she’s been training diligently to give herself a shot at redemption and chance at that elusive medal.

In a phone interview with the Orléans Star, the now 31-year-old Blondin admitted that she was struggling to find her groove in the individual events during the first four races of the World Cup season even though the women’s pursuit team of which she’s a member along with Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais, had been doing extremely well.

Her best result in the 5,000-metres was

a 5th place finish in Norway in November, while her top result in the 3,000-metres was a 6th place finish in Salt Lake City in December. Even in her specialty, the Mass Start, she had only won once in three events.

“I hadn’t really hit my peak heading into the Olympics, so mentally I really wasn’t doing well,” Blondin said from her home in Calgary.

If her mental state wasn’t that great heading into the Olympics, placing a distant 14th in the 3,000-metres on the opening day didn’t help.

After placing 13th in the 1,500, which is admittedly her weakest distance, two days later, Blondin decided to pull out of the 5,000 to focus on the Team Pursuit and Mass Start events.

Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais were the number one ranked team in the world heading into the Olympics, having won all three of the World Cup events so far this season. Japan was ranked number two and the Netherlands number three.

Seeding in the semifinals was determined by how fast each team skated in the quarterfinals. The Canadian girls had the second fastest time behind Japan and ahead of the

Ivanie Blondin celebrates winning the gold medal in the women’s team pursuit event with teammates Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais.

GREG KULZ/SPEED SKATING CANADA PHOTO Netherlands, meaning they would have to beat the veteran Dutch team to gain a berth in the final.

The semis and the final took place two hours apart on Feb. 15.

Skating in front of a large contingent of fellow Canadian athletes, including mem-

bers of the men’s and women’s hockey teams, Blondin, Weidemann and Maltais were able to best the Netherlands threesome in their semi-final to set up a gold medal showdown against Japan who easily beat the Russian team in their semi-final.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21 • 3

Paradise I recently visited paradise and it is a place where there is no mask mandate, people move about freely without any concern over social distancing and the positivity rate is less than two per cent.

Mexico is one of the few countries in the world where visitors do not have to be tested before they enter the country. Although restrictions vary from state to state, in Oaxaca where the popular tourist destinations of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco are located, the only places where masks are mandatory are banks.

In the region where Puerto Escondido is located, the number of active cases never rose above 150 during the month of February.

More interestingly, the two testing facilities I visited during my stay in the surfer/backpacker destination reported that less than two per cent of the tests they’ve conducted came back positive. This in a community where people crowd together in restaurants, hostels and clubs every single night. In fact, the positivity rate is so low there is a thriving black market in positive tests results. People actual pay money to get a fake positive test so they can get an extra week off work and stay longer.

Now, I know that some people may be horrified by this information.

Coming back to Ottawa was like re-entering a parallel universe. Masks are still worn everywhere, including outdoors. Now, I’m not against face masks. Never have been. I’ve always been of the opinion that face masks provide a very important barrier to contracting the COVID-19 virus, especially for people with underlying health conditions and the elderly, but for the rest of use relatively healthy individuals they should be optional.

As a society we have been led to believe that the coronavirus is all around us and that we are at an extreme risk of catching COVID-19 as soon as we leave our houses. The reality is that the virus, and especially the Omicron variant is no more dangerous to most people – and by most people I mean normally healthy people with no underlying health conditions and fully vaccinated – than the flu. Sure, there is the odd breakthrough case, but they are so rare as to be comparable to being struck by lighting.

Saskatchewan has already gotten rid of its mask mandate. Manitoba plans to follow suit in a couple of weeks. The rest of the provinces including Ontario won’t be far behind. To which I say, “hallelujah”.

I’ve been to a place where there was no mask mandate and it felt so liberating it’s hard to explain.

When the time comes and Doug Ford lifts the mask mandate here in Ontario, it will be interesting to see how the public will react. Some will immediately toss their masks into the garbage, while others will continue to wear them indefinitely. To each there own. Over time more and more people will elect to go mask free.

We’ve been living under this COVID cloud for the past two years. I’ve personally spent my time during the pandemic improving my personal heath to the point where I feel completely comfortable and safe not wearing a mask in public and it’s an amazing place to be.

– Fred Sherwin, editor

Fredrick C. Sherwin, Editor & Publisher fsherwin@orleansstar.ca The Orléans Star is a bi-weekly publication distributed to 44,000 residences in Blackburn Hamlet, Orléans and Navan. The newspaper is locally owned and operated by Sherwin Publishing Inc., 745 Farmbrook Cres., Orléans, ON. Inquiries and delivery issues should be sent to info@orleansstar.ca.

4 • March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21

Orléans MP strongly condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine As we close Black History Month, I was honoured to join the women of the Pan-African Ahmadiyya Muslims Association Canada and the Afro-descendant community of Orléans. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn about the trailblazers and leaders of our Pan-African community and their unique history, heritage and cultural contributions to Orléans, Canada and our economy.

February 14th marked for the first time in our history the invocation of the Emergencies Act. As the occupation of downtown Ottawa entered its third consecutive week and after the City and the Province of Ontario declared a State of Emergency, it was clear that the escalated illegal behaviour of the protesters showed no signs of peacefully and respectfully ending.

For the residents of Ottawa and Orléans these demonstrations continued to restrict their ability to partake in annual winter activities, along with impeding our businesses to reopen. Due to the exceptional work of law enforcement, I am glad to see that Ottawa is returning to a peaceful and free setting. As Ottawa returns to normality, I urge you all to remain vigilant and safe when reexploring our beautiful capital city.

On Feb. 19, my colleague, Minister Helena Jaczek, announced a $20 million investment to provide non-repayable contributions to Ottawa’s businesses that have suffered losses due to the illegal blockades.

As a former small business owner, I was overjoyed to see a non-repayable contribution of up to $10,000 of non-deferrable operational costs for small businesses.

February 24th marked an international moment in history as Russia invaded Ukraine.

I strongly condemn Russia’s attack and I stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. As this conflict unfolds, the people of Ukraine and the Orléans Ukrainian community are in my thoughts. As Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Fraser, I support the announcement for greater immigration support for Ukrainians. To aid the ongoing humanitarian disaster, the government will prioritize citizenship grants and permanent residency cards, wave fees for travel and immigration documents for Ukrainians.

As we enter the month of March, it is my tradition to celebrate International Women’s Day by highlighting the exceptional dedication shown by women of all ages from our community. On March 4, I will proudly grant the Orléans Leading Women and Girl Recognition Award to 31 women that were nominated by our community during the annual Women’s Day Breakfast.

If you have any concerns or questions, do not hesitate to contact our office 613-834-1800, or at Marie-France.Lalonde@parl.gc.ca.

21st century nomads could teach us all a lesson During a recent trip to Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, I was blessed to meet and get to know some amazing young people.

Puerto Escondido is on the Pacific side of Mexico, way down in the south near Huatulco. It’s always been a destination for surfers, backpackers, nomads and wanderers of all types. It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit ever since I first heard about it more than 25 years ago.

I actually went with my 24-year-old son Dylan, which was pretty awesome, and instead of staying at a hotel or resort, I decided to stay at a youth hostel so that he could meet people his age from around the world before his trip to Europe this summer.

The hostel I chose was Bonita Escondida and what a perfect choice it was. Dylan and I met people from England, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina, Chile and a number of other countries.

Most of the young people we met had just graduated from university and were setting out to see the world. Many had been on the road for weeks and even months.

Some had graduated years ago and had learned early on in their journeys that traveling is not so much about the places you go as it is about the people you meet. To experience

Up Front Fred Sherwin the richness of travel requires you to open up your mind, but more importantly it requires you to open up your heart.

During our week in Puerto, I met some incredible people who have made my life richer for having met them and who I will never forget and hopefully will run into again in the future.

People like Zion who is an amazing young photographer from Montréal and who visited Iceland in the fall before coming to Mexico and is now on his way to Guatemala.

JJ from Brighton, England, better known as The Mad Chattaa who is one of the best event animators in the business and who I will hopefully see in Ibiza in July.

Henry, another Brit, who I never saw wearing a shirt the entire week I was in Puerto and who is a marvelous warm soul.

Justin from Rotterdam, Alex from parts unknown and Max from England, who all found work at the hostel to extend their stay in Puerto.

Ivana from Argentina and Josefa from Chile who both decided to extend their stay at the hostel by volunteering their time in exchange for accommodation and who’ve invited me to visit them next winter.

Yann, 27, from Germany, whose family owns a small hotel near Munich. He was in Mexico to blow off some steam before taking over the family business this spring.

And then there is my newly adopted son, Jackson, who spent 19 months in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a crime. After his conviction was overturned and he was released from prison, he briefly returned to the family business but those 19 months of confinement left him wanting to do more with his freedom, so he left home and traveled to Vietnam where he got a job managing three hostels for four months before moving on to Mexico.

And finally there is Inès, another beautiful soul and amazing young woman who is a surf instructor from Belgium. She was working the reception when Dylan and I first arrived at the hostel. She told me later that she was

initially worried that we had checked into the wrong place. Oh, did I mention that I was the oldest person to ever stay at the hostel by at least 15 years? Anyway she quickly realized that night that I was in exactly the right place I was meant to be.

She very quickly “got” me. She along with the other people I’ve mentioned, never prejudged me for my age. They accepted me for who I am rather than some preconceived notion of who I might be.

Everyone who I have mentioned, along with many who I have not like Jack and Colin from England, and Moos, Niels and Heda (sic) from the Netherlands, are free spirits who are living the best years of their lives.

I can’t say enough about all the young people I met in Puerto Escondido. The initial reaction from most people my age is that these young people must be running away from something, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. These young nomads are travelers in search of new experiences and a better understanding of the world around them and I salute them. If they become the leaders of tomorrow, as some no doubt will, then we are in very good hands indeed, present world affairs aside.

March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21 • 5

TIM TIERNEY

Councillor, Ward 11 Beacon Hill, Cyrville 613-580-2481 timothy.tierney@ottawa.ca www.timtierneyottawa.ca

Upcoming information session to deal with living with coyotes Orléans is blessed with an abundance largely remain a mystery for many of us. of natural greenspace, teeming with a Next week, I will be hosting an diversity of wildlife. As many residents information session on “Living with Coyotes are likely aware, living with nature on our and Wildlife” featuring expert speakers from doorstep also requires a Coyote Watch Canada level of understanding and the City of Ottawa. about how to approach This will be a great Laura situations when wildlife opportunity for residents Dudas and humans collide. Over to ask questions, learn the years, we have had more about the behaviour sightings of coyotes in of coyotes, and other Innes Ward 2 our shared spaces, not wildlife, and how to just in wooded areas or fields, but on streets handle interactions safely and properly. and along pathways.

The information session will be hosted on Many of us wonder what to do when Zoom on Monday, March 7 and will begin we encounter a coyote and if an issue with at 6 pm. If you are interested in attending, wildlife occurs who to contact. I have been please send an email to Laura.Dudas@ asked where these impressive animals live, Ottawa.ca, and I will make sure you receive why do we see them in our neighbourhoods, the details to participate. I look forward and should we be worried about them. to learning more about these fascinating Despite sharing a “habitat”, these animals animals together!

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WillowbendRetirement.com 6 • March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21

Riverstone Residents Enjoying a Tropical Themed Dinner

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IS MARCH 8

Celebrating women and womanhood throughout the world STAR STAFF – International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8; however, the story of Women’s Day dates back to February 28, 1909, when the United States observed its first National Woman’s Day. An initiative of Socialist Party of America, the first national Woman’s Day was more of a political event that was a result of revolution against inequality and oppression spurring women of the United States.

It was the first political activism to protect the rights of women that U.S. National Woman’s Day was celebrated.

German socialist Luise Zietz took the journey of women liberalisation a step forward, proposing the establishment of International Women’s Day in 1910. At the general meeting of the Socialist International in Copenhagen, 100 female delegates from 17 countries agreed to the proposal of promoting equal rights for women globally.

The very first International Women’s Day was observed on March 19, 1911, in Germany, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland.

During the early 1900s, Women’s Day

was being celebrated on different dates in different countries; however, the essence of the event remained the same – equality of women and empowerment.

International Women’s Day was observed in Russia in February 1914 and again in February 1917 when women in Russia protested against suffrage. They called for a strike for “Bread and Peace” on the last Sunday of February. According to Gregorian calendar, the day fell on March 8. Prior to the event, the Czar of Russia resigned and the government granted the women’s right to vote.

With every passing year, the essence of Women’s Day strengthened with mass protests and rallies held around the world.

Finally, in 1975, March 8 was designated as International’s Women’s Day by the United Nations. The day is commemorated globally by events and rallies that honour women’s rights to equality and advancement.

Over one million people took part in rallies and protests around the world during the first official International

Women`s Day in 1975. Collectively, they demanded a woman’s equal right to vote, to be able to work without the threat of discrimination and to be able to hold public office.

Today, Internationally Woman’s Day is an occasion to not only shed light on social and economic injustice being perpetrated against women, but to also celebrate the economic, political and

social achievements being made by women past, present and future.

Today, International Women’s Day is recognized as an official holiday in a number of countries including Cuba, Ukraine, Vietnam and Russia.

Although it’s not an official holiday in Canada, thousands of people will take part in events and rallies from coast to coast to coast.

Reconnaissance des femmes et filles leaders d’Orléans Orléans Leading Women and Girls Recognition

LES RÉCIPIENDAIRES

2022 RECIPIENTS

FÉLICITATIONS À TOUTES! CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!

Abiola Agoro Aliya Karimjee Angelica Kalumbiaka Brooke Colman Camille Rochon Camylle Tremblay

Carmen Larsen Grijalva Cassandra Cummings Christine Wood Claudette Potvin Danielle DiLollo Donna Leith Gudbranson

Farzana Malik France Léveillé Francine Vinet Heather Johnston Huguette Lorrain Jacqueline Loranger Jacqueline Noiseaux

Bonne journée internationale de la femme 2022!

Happy 2022 International Women’s Day!

Jeannette Bourdeau Katy Prince Madeleine Henri Madonna Keates Mélanie Rochon Nenette Ntema Mbudi

Olivia Rose Furlong Renée LeBlanc Soud El Mestassi Stéphanie Nelson Syeda Anjum Tammy Copp

MP|Députée fédérale Orléans

Marie-France LALONDE (613) 834-1800 | MFLalondeMP.ca Marie-France.Lalonde@parl.gc.ca

March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21 • 7

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IS MARCH 8 Help break the bias by taking part in IWD campaign (NC) The theme of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 is based around gender equity and breaking the bias.

Although women are now able to achieve careers in traditionally male occupations, such as firefighting, policing and engineering, they are all too often harassed, assaulted and denied promotions.

Globally, IWD 2022 is shining a light on gender inequality. As the messaging on their website states: Imagine a gender equal world.

A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

Together we can forge women’s equality.

Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.

Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can break the bias in our communities.

We can break the bias in our workplaces.

We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.

Together, we can all break the bias - on International Women’s Day (IWD) and beyond.

Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead.

Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field.

Are you in? Will you actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping each time you see it?

Will you help break the bias?

Cross your arms to show solidarity.

Strike the IWD 2022 pose and share your #BreakTheBias image, video, resources, presentation or articles on social media using #IWD2022 #BreakTheBias to encourage further people to commit to helping forge an inclusive world.

Individuals and organizations are also invited to send #BreakTheBias images to the International Women’s Day website at www. internationalwomensday.com.

IWD will be sharing some of the best images from around the world in the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8.

So strike the IWD #BreakTheBias pose with your arms crossed to show your commitment to calling out bias, smashing stereotypes, breaking inequality, and rejecting discrimination.

Image submissions may be photographs or illustrations of individual or group compositions striking the #BreakTheBias pose ideally 16:9 aspect ratio (landscape composition; 3000 pixels max. width). All gender identities welcome.

Submissions should be made as early as possible.

March 8 is International Women’s Day! #BreakTheBias #IWD2022

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March 8 is a day for inspiration and change.

Le 8 mars est une journée d’inspiration et de changement.

Catherine Kitts 8 • March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21

Cumberland Ward | Quartier de Cumberland 613-580-2489 | Catherine.Kitts@ottawa.ca

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

A tribute to all women Since 1977, the United Nations has called on countries around the world to highlight the importance of gender equality and to fight for women’s advancement.

International Women’s Day is a day to honour all women who have fought for recognition of their rights to education, participation in political life, access to the workforce, pay equity and work-family balance. It is a day to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of all the women who have helped in the fight for gender equality and contributed to writing the history of women’s rights.

This special day is also an opportunity for men and women to look to the future.

It is a time to stop and think about ways to improve the status of women in developed and developing countries. It is an invitation to think about how to end the discrimination, inequality, abuse and violence of which they are still victims in many places around the world, including here at home.

March 8 is also the perfect time to celebrate women, irrespective of their nationality, religion, language, economic status or political convictions.

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Célébrez la Journée internationale de la femme le 8 mars!

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March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21 • 9

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Imagine a gender equal world.

• • • • • • • •

A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

Together we can forge women’s equality.

Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.

The Government of Canada’s theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 is Women Inspiring Women. It celebrates all the women and girls who inspire us by demonstrating leadership in the choices they make in their day-to-day lives to contribute to the social, economic, cultural, and political spheres.

In Canada, unlike in many other countries, women are free to study and be leaders in the field they choose, care and provide for their family, express who they are, and fight for their beliefs.

Ways to get involved • Follow Women and Gender Equality Canada on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

• Share the social media posts on March 8 and the days leading up to this important date, or start a conversation using WGEC social media shareables below with the hashtag #IWD2022.

• Meet the four new recipients of the Governor General’s Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case during the award ceremony on Facebook live on March 8 at 10:30 a.m. No registration required.

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10 • March 3, 2022 • Volume 36, No. 21

Blondin redeems herself with Mass Start silver medal Continued from page 3 In the gold medal race, Japan got out to fast start, building up a full second lead after two and half laps. By the midway point of the 12-lap race, they had narrowed the gap down to less than 0.6 seconds. With two laps to go, they were only 0.4 seconds behind.

And when the bell sound signaling the final lap they were just over three-tenths behind.

The Japanese were clearly tiring, while the Canadian girls were continuing to apply the pressure. That combination of fatigue and pressure ultimately resulted in one of the Japanese girls losing an edge on the final curve, causing her to crash out of the race and give the Canadians the win and the gold medal.

“At first I wasn’t sure we had won, because I didn’t see what happened. Issy did, because she was at the front, so she was already celebrating. I didn’t believe we had won until I saw it on the screen,” recalled Blondin. “It all came down to us relying on each other and knowing what we were capable of.”

The picture of the three girls celebrating together after receiving their gold medals taken by Canadian Speed Skating photographer Greg Kolz is one of the most iconic images of the Beijing Olympics.

As proud as she was of winning the gold medal in the Team Pursuit, Blondin still had some unfinished business: the Mass Start, and a shot at that individual medal which had eluded her in 2018.

“Going into the (Mass Start) semi-final, I was really quite nervous, which I never am during the World Cups,” said Blondin. “As much as I didn’t want to think about the fall in Korea, I guess it was still in the back of my mind.”

Despite the pre-race jitters, Blondin easily won her semi-final and was surprisingly at ease at the start of the final.

When her name was announced on the PA system she smiled ear to ear and waved to the Canadian supporters in the stands.

The race went pretty much as predicted with Blondin, Irene Schouten of the Netherlands and Francesca Lollobrigida

from Italy all jockeying for position.

Blondin was in the lead heading into the final turn with Schouten on her hip. As they both approached the finish line, Schouten was able to edge her skate blade ahead of Blondin’s, winning the event by just six onehundredths of a second.

Despite having to settle for silver, Blondin was pleased with the result.

“We’ve been skating against each other for so many years, to all finish on the podium together in what could be our last Olympics was pretty special,” said Blondin who joined the Gloucester Concordes Speedskating Club when she was just eight years old. By the time she was 12, she was already winning the provincial age class championships.

She started out as a short track specialist but became disillusioned over the cliqueishness of the sport being the only non-Quebec member of the national team at the time. She switched to long track in 2010 and moved to Calgary to be nearer to the national team training facility. The rest, as they say, is history and now Blondin is a multiple

SPEED SKATING CANADA PHOTO

Olympic medalist.

So is this really her last Olympics?

“I’m a pretty strong cyclist, so you never know,” says Blondin, perhaps hinting at a Clara Hughes-like Summer/Winter Olympic double.

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