Speed Skating Win

Oshawa’s Ben Donnelly and Regina’s Kali Christ won the Men’s and Women’s 1500m races while Whitby’s Rob Watson and Josie Spence of Kamloops finished first in the mass start, which is a new Olympic discipline event.

All in the family in the women’s mass start

On the women’s side, Ivanie Blondin (2014-2015 overall World Cup champion in mass start) did not take part Sunday as she has already prequalified for this fall’s World Cups.

This following her winning a Silver medal at the 2015 World Single Distance Championships who was the skater who took advantage of that absence was Josie Spence.

Josie Spence’s victory, Sunday, was all the more sweet that she shared the podium with her sisters Victoria and Sarah, who respectively finished second and third.

It was Josie Spence’s second top-3 result of the competition, after she came up with third place in Thursday’s 3000m.

“The win means so much more to me because I had my sisters on the podium with me,” said Josie Spence. “It’s encouraging and we’re pushing each other to be stronger.”

Josie told the media “Personally, I was really happy that a couple skaters that had a race plan phased out quicker. That gives me the advantage because I have more endurance than some of the faster skaters.”

Josie finished fourth in this discipline last season at the national level and she mentioned “I sat in front and felt really relaxed, and then punched it at the end and Mass start is a waiting game, and I definitely waited it out in the right way.”

Kali Christ wins women’s 1500m

In the women’s 1500m, Kali Christ (1:57.03) picked up her first podium win finishing ahead of Ivanie Blondin (1:57.07) and Brianne Tutt (1:58.56).

She told the media “After this race, I know I have a lot more in me and I’m going to work on my technical cues and incorporate those into my races, making sure everything is going in the right direction.”

Christ, who was ranked first in the country in this distance last season, while Blondin was second.

The list of Canadian team members will be announced over the next few weeks ahead of the first ISU Long Track World Cup of the season, set to take place from November 13 to 15 at Calgary’s Olympic Oval.

The 57 skaters who took part in this competition, which were held the same time as the Oval Invitational events were attempting to earn a spot on the team.

They will represent Canada at the first four ISU Long Track Speed Skating World Cup stages slated for this fall listed below:

• Calgary (November 13-15)
• Salt Lake City (November 20-22)
• Inzell, Germany (December 4-6)
• Heerenveen, Netherlands (December 11-13)