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Ottawa's Isabelle Weidemann won the silver medal in the women's 5,000 meters Friday at the third stage of the World Cup of Speed Skating in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
Weidemann, paired with gold medalist Ragne Viklund of Norway, started slowly and found himself in 10th place after five of 13 laps.
But both skaters stepped up in the second half, with Weidemann moving up to second place on the 12th lap.
Weidemann finished in six minutes 50.11 seconds, 1.10 seconds behind Wiklund. Joy Beun of the Netherlands was third in 6:51.83.
The result was the 30-year-old's first individual podium of the season and first since she won bronze in the 3000m at the Beijing World Cup last year.
Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa won a World Cup silver medal on Friday with a time of 6.50:11 in the 5,000 meters in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
“I'm happy with how everything went today. I had a hard time finding the pace. I kind of jumped a little – he was too slow, too fast, too slow. One day I found it and felt good,” she said. “The last half, I think, was the best. Usually people start much faster than me. I watched Ragne and she was so smooth. I didn't want the gap to get too big and I tried to keep her in sight.”
The three-time Olympic medalist has 137 points and is fourth in the long-distance rankings with one World Cup left before the Milan games in Cortina, which start on February 6.
Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa was 10th in 7:01.76 and Valerie Malthe of La Baie, Que., was 12th in 7:06.69.
Also on Friday, Canada's Beatrice LaMarche of Quebec finished sixth in the women's 1000 meters in 1:15.13, finishing 0.96 seconds behind race winner Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands. LaMarche, 27, is third overall after earning bronze in Salt Lake City last month.
Watch live coverage of day two of competition in Heerenveen on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Action resumes Saturday at 8:15 a.m. ET. Full broadcast schedule here. available here.
Watch the first day of speed skating World Cup competition in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
