Maltais, Howe capture 1,500m titles on Day 3 of Canadian long track championships

Valerie Maltais and Connor Howe had the golden touch in their respective 1,500-metre races on the third day of the Canadian long track speed skating championships on Saturday.

Maltais, of La Baie, Que., won the women's title — besting a field of 23 skaters — with a time of 1:55.60. It was the 33-year-old Maltais's third medal in Calgary, having already won gold in the 3,000 and silver in the 5,000.

Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ont., added silver (1:56.16) to a medal haul that that already included gold in the 5,000 and silver in the 3,000.

Béatrice Lamarche of Quebec City claimed bronze (1:59.08).

In the men's event, Howe, of Canmore, Alta., skated to his second gold of the competition in a time of 1:43.16. Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, of Sherbrooke, Que., secured silver (1:43.82), and David La Rue, of Saint-Lambert, Que., earned the bronze (1:44.66).

Howe's victory followed his win in the 1,000 and a silver-medal finish in the 5,000.

"The mass start tomorrow, I don't really have a plan to race that if I can make it but I'll try to have fun with that one and then kind of focus on the 1000m, 1500m team pursuit this year at the World Cups," Howe said.

Watch live coverage of the Canadian long track championships on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, with the final day of action kicking off Sunday at noon ET.

It was day 3️⃣ at the Canadian Long Track Championships presented by Intact Insurance! Congrats to our new 1500m champions Valerie Maltais and Connor Howe