Canada claimed men’s team silver on the opening day of the Speed Skating World Cup on Friday.
Connor Howe of Canmore, Alta., Montreal’s Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu and Toronto’s Hayden Mayeur finished just over half a second behind the United States at the Olympic Oval.
The trio won Canada’s first medal in the event of the season. Norway was third.
Ragne Wiklund of Norway won the women’s 3,000 meters with Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa the leading Canadian in fourth just over half a second off the podium.
Dutchmen Marijke Groenewoud and Antoinette Rijpma – de Jong finished second and third respectively.
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Irene Schouten of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, skating in the final pairing, were seventh and 11th, respectively.
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Wesly Dijs of the Netherlands took the men’s 1,500 meters ahead of runner-up Zhongyan Ning of China and compatriot Kjeld Nuis in third place.
Howe was sixth. The 22-year-old Canadian still leads the season points in the distance after a win and a runner-up finish in his first two races this season.
South Korea’s Min-Sun Kim won the women’s 500 meters.
Vanessa Herzog from Austria was second and Jutta Leerdam from the Netherlands third.
The women’s 1,500 and team medley, and the men’s 500 and 5,000 meters are on Saturday.
Racing concludes on Sunday, followed by another three-day World Cup next week in Calgary.
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