Canada's speed skaters deliver throughout national championships to begin Olympic season

After months of training, a lot of unknowns and some stress leading into the Canadian long track speed skating championships, the athletes and coaches can take a deep breath. 

Canada's speed skaters delivered powerful performances over five days of skating at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, setting the stage for a competitive season leading into the Olympics in February. 

This was a pivotal event to not only choose the athletes who will represent the country on the World Cup circuit, but more importantly it is a critical first step for athletes who want to represent Canada in Beijing. 

"I definitely feel relieved. It's been a mental struggle for me for a little while now with it being an Olympic season and my husband has been away for a while now. It's just hard," Ivanie Blondin said.

Blondin, from Ottawa, was not skating her best early in the competition. However, on Saturday she was able to regain her focus and form to win the national championship in the 1,500-metre event with a time of 1:54.64, a season's best time.

Blondin is one of seven speed skaters who have been preselected to the World Cup team — Isabelle Weidemann, Laurent Debreuil, Ted-Jan Bloemen, Jordan Belchos, Graham Fish and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu are also on the team based on their results at the world championships the previous two years. 

Upwards of 21 Canadian athletes will be part of the World Cup team — there could be more added based on results. Any athletes who met the Canadian time standard in each distance at nationals and placed in the top-three are likely to be named to the squad.