Isabelle Weidemann skates to Canada’s 1st medal of Beijing 2022 with bronze in women’s 3,000m | CBC Sports

Weidemann becomes the first Canadian woman to climb the podium in long track since Vancouver 2010.

The Netherlands’ Irene Schouten won gold with an Olympic record time of 3:56.93, while Italian Francesca Lollobrigida snagged silver in 3:58.06.

Weidemann, 26, took a steady approach to her race after watching multiple previous skaters burn out after strong starts at the National Skating Centre, also known as the Ice Ribbon, in Beijing.

The Canadian, ranked first in long distances on the World Cup tour, remained consistent through every 400-metre split, never eclipsing the 32-second mark in any lap. The success of the approach paid out in real time, as Weidemann, skating in the inside lane, fell behind Norway’s Ragne Wiklund on the outside.

But Weidemann slowly caught Wiklund in the back stretch, and her time was good enough to sit first with one pairing to come.

However, Schouten and Lollobrigida pipped Weidemann to take the top two spots on the podium.