Valerie Maltais surprises herself with personal best to win 1,000m at Canadian speed skating trials | CBC Sports

Her previous mark, set in September, was 1:17.12.

“I was so surprised by my race, by my results. When I crossed the line I could not believe it. Today was just basically preparing myself for the [1,500 on Saturday]. I know I’m fast, I know I can do some good stuff, but today was just focusing on that and not on the outcome and it worked out,” Maltais, 31, told CBC Sports’ Anastasia Bucsis after the race.

Maltais was part of the silver-medal 3,000-metre relay team in Sochi, but has never placed higher than sixth in any of her other eight events.

She made the switch to long track after the 2018 Games.

Calgary’s Kaylin Irvine, 31, placed second with a time of 1:15.39 while Maddison Pearman of Ponoka, Alta., was third in 1:15.60 at Calgary’s Olympic Oval.

WATCH | Isabelle Weidemann sets Canadian 5,000 record on Thursday:

Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann sets national record in the 5,000 metres

Ottawa native Isabelle Weidemann skates to a national record in the 5,000 metres with a time of six minutes 46.81 seconds at the Canadian long track speed skating championships. 7:25

Meanwhile, Laurent Dubreuil collected his second victory of the meet by taking the men’s 1,000.

De Haitre, who was born in Ottawa, is just months removed from competing in the track cycling team pursuit at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. The 27-year-old previously represented Canada as a speed skater in Pyeongchang, too.

Dubreuil placed 25th in the 1,000 in his Olympic debut in 2018.

Live coverage from Calgary continues on CBCSports.ca on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET with the women’s and men’s 1,500.

WATCH | Day 2 of the long track national championships:

Canadian Long Track Championships: Day 2

Canadian Long Track Championships from Calgary featuring women’s 5,000m and men’s 10,000m. 1:07:45