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The chaotic mass start event in long track speed skating, for both men and women, takes place on Saturday.
On the men’s side, Canadian Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu was dropped behind at halfway, while his compatriot Jordan Belchos stayed in the game until the last lap without however winning points in the intermediate sprints. They finish 15th and 13th respectively.
Belgian Bart Swings took gold, ahead of Koreans Chung Jae-Won and Lee Seung-Hoon.
In 16-lap races, points are given to the first three skaters in each of the three intermediate sprints and at the finish. The first three positions are given to the first three skaters to cross the finish line, then the rest of the group is decided according to the points accumulated.
In the semi-finals, Gélinas-Beaulieu stayed in the middle of the pack, betting on the final sprint which pays off to advance.
In the other half, Belchos used a completely different strategy by seriously breaking away from the group early on, with him and Japan’s Ryosuke Tsuchiya helping each other in the lead to moderate their efforts.
The Canadians won silver and bronze medals in this event at the 2020 World Championships, and Belchos was fourth at the last Worlds.
On the women’s side, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais also earned their spots, helping Canada win a gold medal in the women’s team pursuit in Beijing.
Maltais narrowly passed, while Blondin, who has been used to a podium in this discipline for years, dominated her wave.
