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HACHINOHE, Japan — Ivanie Blondin helped Canada win a gold medal in the team sprint before capturing an individual bronze medal Friday as Canada opened the long track speed skating season with three medals at the Championships of the Four Continents of the ISU.

Blondin of Ottawa teamed up with Carolina Hiller of Prince George, B.C., and Béatrice Lamarche of Quebec to win the women’s team sprint in a record time of one minute 27.87 seconds .

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Lamarche used the slingshot technique to launch Blondin on the final lap, which helped the trio maintain their speed. While that move worked, Lamarche said it could be improved.

“The slingshot movement felt better yesterday in practice, but it wasn’t at high speed. Maybe we looked smooth, but personally I felt weird and rushed through the whole process,” Lamarche said. “I’m excited to try again at the World Cup in China because I think it can be better.”

South Korea was 1.39 seconds off the pace for silver, while Kazakhstan was 2.49 seconds behind the winners to take bronze.

Later, Blondin, 34, won bronze in the women’s 1,500 meters with a time of 1:57.99.

Japan’s Miho Takagi (1:54.86) and China’s Mei Han (1:56.53) won gold and silver, respectively.

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“I feel pretty good with my 1500,” Blondin said. “I couldn’t warm up after the team sprint because we went straight to the medal ceremony. In the end, I had to put on my wetsuit and get back on the ice.

“I didn’t have the pop I normally would have, but halfway through the race I realized things were going well and my legs were feeling pretty good,” she added. “I was happy about the end of times.”

Canada reached the podium for the third time as Anders Johnson of Burnaby, British Columbia, Laurent Dubreuil of Lévis and Yankun Zhao of Calgary finished third in the men’s team sprint.

The United States (1:19.43) and China (1:19.78) finished ahead of Canada, the reigning world champion and world record holder in the discipline.

“I think it was a good run for us,” Johnson said. “It was a new setup for our team today and we executed well and skated well. We are happy with the result and excited to see what happens in the future.

The championships continue Saturday with Blondin, Dubreuil, Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Valérie Maltais of La Baie and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa looking to add to Canada’s medal total.

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