Team pursuit podium just eludes Canadians

Ina pair of battles for North American speedskating supremacy, the U.S. claimed the one that counts most at the oval.

Their women snuck past Canada by just .44 seconds to win a bronze medal in team pursuit. The Canadian and American men, meanwhile, battled for seventh and eighth place. (Canada won by about eight seconds.)

In team pursuit, three skaters for each country skate a total of eight laps for men, six laps for women. They spell one another off out front, just as it’s done in a cycling race. And the clock only stops once the third and final member of the squad crosses the finish line.

It’s only been an Olympic event since Turin 2006, so it’s fair to consider it the speedskating version of curling mixed doubles, if you will, a bit of gimmickry.

Canadian men and women both won silver in Turin, the men added gold in Vancouver and neither team hit the podium at Sochi.

The Canadian women once again sent Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann to the start, joined by Josie Morrison of Kamloops, B.C. They started slowly and were down by as much as 3.35 seconds.

They made a push but just ran out of real estate. The U.S. team of Brittany Bowe, Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello hung on long enough for the win.

The Canadian men weren’t close in the semifinal with Japan. They fell behind early and the gap widened to 2.88 seconds at the finish. That sent them into their matchup with the U.S.