Ottawa speedskaters part of team that won gold medal at Winter Games

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Hometown pride for gold medal speedskaters

Parents of local Olympic Gold Medalist

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For the families watching thousands of kilometres away, the moment was almost too big to process — Canada’s women’s team pursuit squad of Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann, along with La Baie, Que.’s Valérie Maltais, captured Olympic gold at the Winter Games in Milan on Tuesday.

“Oh my goodness, that was an awesome race,” said Blondin’s father Bob, moments after the finish. “They started the way they (usually) start — slowly — and then they build up their speed. The Dutch are strong, but our team, they’re the best. We’re very, very happy for them.”

Blondin’s parents Bob and Lise watched from their living room in Rockland. Milan marks Ivanie’s fourth Olympic Games, a journey that began with a childhood declaration and years of sacrifice.

“You wouldn’t think it would happen four times at the Olympics,” Lise said. “To watch them race like that is really special.”

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Blondin was born in Orléans and joined the national team at just 14, leaving home early for training in Montreal and later Calgary. The family recalls years of travel, competition schedules and missed holidays — all part of the path to the podium.

“They train every day, seven days a week, on and off the ice,” Bob Blondin said. “She’s worked so hard and she’s so dedicated to the sport. We tried to support her any way we could.”

“She just wanted to go fast on skates,” Lise said. “She loved the speed.”

That drive remains visible at the start line, her parents say, with an intensity they can read, even from afar.

“When she’s really going for it, you can see it in her face,” her mother said. “Her drive is so much.”

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With Milan potentially Blondin’s final Olympics, the gold carries an added sense of closure — and relief — for those who watched every lap.

“When we talk to her, we’ll just say congratulations,” her parents said.

At Isabelle Weidemann’s former high school, Colonel By Secondary School, cheers erupted at a watch party in the gym on Tuesday when the team finished their final lap.

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And at the Brewer Park Oval, news of the gold medal win travelled almost as quickly as the medallists who used to skate there.

Their former coach said the pair had their hearts set on success.

“Ivanie was feisty as heck and then Isabelle is a little bit different, and she was very process oriented and very focused,” said Mike Rivet, of the Gloucester Concordes. “Once they had their minds set on something, you knew they were going for it.”

Ivanie Blondin still has her best individual race to come, the mass start.

• RELATED: Canadian speedskaters Maltais, Blondin, Weidemann win Olympic gold in team pursuit