Canadian speed skater Blondin blending medal pursuit with mentorship

Jan 22 : Speed skater Ivanie Blondin returns to the Olympic stage as the heartbeat of Canada's title-defending team pursuit squad and a mentor guiding the nation's rising talent - a role she embraces as fiercely as her pursuit of medals.

At 35, Blondin is set to compete in the mass start, where she won silver in Beijing four years ago, the 1,500 metres and the women's team pursuit at next month's Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

She will again join Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais in the team pursuit as the trio look to defend Canada's breakthrough 2022 Olympic title.

"Team pursuit and mass start... that's kind of my main focus," Blondin told Reuters.

"If I come home with one of those two medals, I'll be very, very happy."

Blondin has a particular affection for the team pursuit.

"I just think there's something so beautiful about doing something as a team," Blondin said.

"The trust between the three of us on the ice has always been there. There's never any hesitation. We go to the line super amped, guns blazing, giving everything we can together - and that's a really satisfying feeling."

Blondin arrives in Milan after a strong season, winning the World Cup mass start event in Calgary, finishing third in the 1,500m in Heerenveen, and helping Canada top the overall standings in the women's team pursuit.

Her mass start victory in Calgary in November carried extra meaning as it looks likely to be her final major race on home ice.

"It was pretty special - Calgary has been my home for so long," she said.

"My family flew in ... to execute on potentially my last big event there was emotional. I was trying not to cry."

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Born in Ottawa, Canada's capital, Blondin first tried figure skating but quickly realised it was not the