Ponoka speed skater Maddison Pearman did her country, province and hometown proud over the weekend at the International Skating Union Four Continents Speed Skating Championships.
Pearman earned gold in the women’s pursuit at the event in Quebec, along with teammates Béatrice Lamarche and Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.). The trio impressed in their first-ever race together, crossing the line in 3:06.877, over four seconds faster than second-place China (+4.32) and third-place Korea (+4.40).
Pearman also finished just off the podium Sunday in the women’s 1000 metre race, in fifth place with a time of 1:17.625. She was less than a second behind her teammate, Lamarche, who won bronze and just over a second away from gold medalist Min-Sun Kim.
Canada’s long track team is back in action on home ice next weekend at the first of two consecutive World Cups in Calgary, taking place from December 9-11 and December 16-18 at the Olympic Oval.