Sacrifice, resilience and gratitude at heart of Canadian speed skating team pursuit gold

It was such a beautiful moment of ecstasy, joy and relief inside the Ice Ribbon on Tuesday afternoon in Beijing.

Canadian speed skaters Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Val Maltais couldn't hide what the moment meant to them.

All three of the skaters kept putting their hands over their mouths, seemingly in disbelief at their Olympic record skate to claim Canada's first gold medal in the team pursuit.

The two skated around the ice with the flag, finally catching up to Weideman who was hunched over on the side of the ice.

The high-powered Canadian speed skating trio just kept skating around the oval smiling and hugging and celebrating —soaking up a moment years in the making.

WATCH | Canadian women claim 1st ever gold medal in team pursuit in record fashion:

"We were still on a mission. We went into that final wanting to skate our best. This is just incredible," Weidemann said. "It's been such an incredible week here in Beijing."

The story of these three is one of sacrifice, resilience and gratitude.

Four years ago at the Olympics in Pyeongchang, Weidemann and Blondin were part of the Canadian team pursuit that just missed the podium.

The sting of finishing fourth fuelled them over this last quadrennial.

For Weidemann, who has become the star of these Games now with a gold, silver and bronze medal, the 2018 Olympics were a turning point in her career.

WATCH | Weidemann's family cheers her on from home:

It was the 22-year-old's Olympic debut. And she underperformed.

She finished seventh in the 3,000m and sixth in the 5,000m, to go along with the fourth-place finish in the team pursuit.

"I have some unresolved goals from the last Games. I don't feel I skated to my potential," Weidemann told CBC Sports.

She used the