Blondin, Howe claim 1,500m titles at Canadian Long Track Championships

The third day of the Canadian Long Track Championships in Quebec City saw Ivanie Blondin and Connor Howe win gold in their respective 1,500-metre races at the Centre de glace Intact Assurance.

The three-time Olympian from Ottawa set a new track record in the event on Saturday with a time of one minute 55.509 seconds. It was her fifth medal and second national title of the competition after winning the women's 1,000m on Friday.

"It has been a long three days, but every race kept getting better and better. Today, I was focusing more on my technique," Blondin said.

Fellow Olympian Isabelle Weidemann claimed silver (1:56.536), while Béatrice Lamarche captured bronze on home ice in 1:58.128.

The men's 1,500m, meanwhile, featured plenty of drama right up until the finish line.

Howe won the national title in 1:44.770, while Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (1:45.094) took home silver after a late push saw him overtake Tyson Langelaar (1:45.649) for second place on the final lap.

WATCH | Canadian Long Track Championships: Women's 1,500m & Men's 1,500m:

Courtney Sarault picked up a pair of gold medals on Day 2 of the Canadian Short Track Championships earlier on Saturday in Quebec City.

The Moncton, N.B., native delivered a statement performance in the women's 1,000m-1 with a time of 1:30,823, beating fellow national team members Kim Boutin (1:30.907) and Claudia Gagnon (1:31.107).

Sarault also topped the podium in the women's 1,500m-2 event (2:36,484) beating Gagnon (2:36.517) and Renee Steenge (2:37.204).

Steven Dubois (1:27,248) won silver and Pascal Dion (1:27,272) won bronze.

Dubois, a two-time overall Canadian champion, followed it up with a gold medal in the men's 1500m-2 after passing Dion (2:20,548) and Laoun (2:20,676) on the