Konrad Nagy, a Hungarian speedskater, didn’t qualify for these Milano-Cortina Olympics. He didn’t qualify in 2022 both. As a substitute, he spent these Beijing Video games on the home of his buddy, who simply so occurred to personal a beer faucet. And there, Nagy did what many people would: he picked up a keg of Stella and watched two weeks’ value of speedskating.
It was via his pal’s TV set that he witnessed his spouse Ivanie Blondin’s Olympic breakthrough — a gold medal within the group pursuit, and a silver within the mass begin.
“That was a very good feeling,” Nagy recollects.
You’ll be able to wager that each one 60 litres of Stella had been gone by the point the torch was snuffed on these Olympics.
Nagy’s setup can be a little bit totally different this time round — he’ll be in Milan to witness Blondin’s remaining Olympics firsthand.
Blondin, the Ottawa native and four-time Olympian, and Nagy are planning a full renovation of their Calgary dwelling after Italy. Additionally they hope to start out a household.
“I am not doing one other quad. There is no approach. Like, I am 35, I will be turning 36 in April,” Blondin says. “It is time for the subsequent era to step up and [for me to] form of cross the baton over to them.”
First, although, there’s the duty at hand. Blondin can be among the many favourites to return to the rostrum in each the group pursuit, which begins with quarterfinals on Feb. 14, and mass begin, which works Feb. 21.
Whereas these could also be Blondin’s remaining Video games, she stays as intent as ever on reaching the highest of the rostrum — particularly after a streak of mass-start second-place finishes relationship again to Beijing. Silver linings are good and all, however nothing matches gold, and Blondin is among the many favourites in Milan.
With the caveat that something can occur on the Olympics, coach Remmelt Eldering says he “expects” medals in Blondin’s two most important occasions.
Blondin isn’t shying away from that daring prediction. In spite of everything, she is famously aggressive.
The truck outdoors her dwelling in Calgary is burnished with a licence plate that reads ‘BLONDIN,’ a purchase order she made alongside Nagy. Surrounding these seven letters is a licence-plate cowl, which Blondin purchased for herself, that reads: “IF YOU AIN’T FIRST, YOU’RE LAST” — the well-known quote from Talladega Nights, spoken into existence by Will Ferrell’s caricature of a NASCAR driver, Ricky Bobby.
“It is simply the way in which I’m, I suppose. And it may possibly have its optimistic moments. It may drive me; it may be a whole catastrophe generally. However that is the way in which I roll,” she says.
The best way she rolls calls for loads of these round her, too. Whereas Nagy is in Milan to help his spouse, he’ll face sure restrictions.
“Once I’m in race mode, he is aware of to not strategy me. And particularly after a foul race, he is aware of to provide me my 10-minute window of like, don’t strategy in any way,” she explains.
After all, throughout Blondin’s distinguished profession, which dates to her world-championship debut in 2011, she has not wanted a lot of these 10-minute home windows.
Along with her Olympic medals, she owns 17 medals from worlds, together with 5 golds, success which seems to have whet her urge for food however by no means absolutely satiated her starvation. Nagy sees it closest.
“Anytime I’ve a foul race, ending twenty seventh or one thing, after which she comes off the ice in second after which she’s tremendous mad. And I am like, ‘You are on the rostrum. Like, you ought to be completely satisfied. I am twenty seventh. Take a look at me. I am not throwing a match,’” Nagy says.
“After which she’s identical to, ‘Yeah, I did not win.’ I used to be like, ‘Yeah, however you continue to completed second. That’s one thing.’ After which she’s simply mad as a result of it isn’t second, it is final. She desires to win each single race.”
Nonetheless, regardless of these philosophical variations, Blondin appreciates the steadiness Nagy supplies.
“He is very easygoing and chill. And after I’m like dropping my marbles over one thing, there’s just a few type of calm collectedness that he brings to me that calms me down. And it simply works,” she says.
Calm collectedness is just not how anybody would describe Blondin’s greatest self-discipline. The mass begin, which made its Olympic debut in 2018, sees skaters race towards one another as a substitute of dueling the clock. As its title implies, skaters present up initially line of the oval in a gaggle, take off collectively and race 16 laps. It’s simply probably the most chaotic long-track race, the one by which something can occur rings truest.
Cruelly, for Blondin, it is usually the one by which something has all-too-often meant second.
On high of her Olympic silver medal, she positioned second at every of the three world championships since. (She received gold medals in 2016 and 2020). For her World Cup profession, Blondin has stood on the rostrum 41 occasions. Twenty-one of these situations have been silver.
“I believe there’s at all times lots of fireplace in me on the subject of mass begin. And I believe that is why I am a extremely good mass-start skater. On the finish of the day, it is undoubtedly been irritating over time. I have been second lots,” Blondin says.
Blondin started her profession briefly monitor, the place chaos reigns. Although she was shortly shuffled to lengthy monitor, she by no means misplaced that need for head-on motion. After the 2022 Olympics, whereas considering her future, she returned to brief monitor for a summer time of coaching.
“I’d leap on brief monitor with the short-track group in Calgary, then I might leap on lengthy monitor and it was chaos, but it surely was organized chaos, which is what I thrive in,” she says.
Blondin has a robust ending kick and is prepared to wager on herself in a dash to the end. (In keeping with Nagy, “nobody” can match his spouse’s velocity.) However what actually makes her excel within the mass begin is, certainly, her aggressive drive.
“That is the identical as how she picked up [professional] bike racing. It is the identical thought: You are in a bunch [of competitors] and then you definately simply gotta cross the end line first. And he or she loves this type of stuff,” Nagy says.
The pivot to biking isn’t an odd one for speedskaters, who typically use the game to cross-train. In hindsight, although, it makes specific sense for the fidgety Blondin.
“She will be able to’t actually sit and chill. That is not in her,” Nagy says.
Nagy recollects a current Sunday afternoon, once they had been hanging out with their canine, parrot and numerous foster cats. Blondin was bored, so she prompt going fishing.
“The closest lake the place we will fish is sort of a four-hour drive away. Simply interested by this now at 2 p.m., it does not make any sense,” Nagy answered.
They ended up going fishing.
In a equally stressed vein after Beijing, Blondin picked up a motorbike, only for enjoyable, on the suggestion of Canadian teammate Connor Howe.
She caught on shortly, ending ninth within the highway race at nationals that summer time. One 12 months later, she positioned third on the worldwide Gastown Grand Prix in Vancouver, resulting in a spot on the Goldman Sachs professional group.
Regardless of the chance of crashes and harm, Pace Skating Canada allowed Blondin to proceed her biking pursuit.
“It is form of just like the NASCAR of motorbike racing,” Blondin explains, true to her Ricky Bobby roots. “So, it is form of been enjoyable in a way that it is actually onerous coaching, actually onerous racing, however on the finish of the day, after the races are accomplished, we’re all there tailgating.”
Biking has grow to be sufficient of an obsession that Blondin will return for one final summer time of competitors after the speedskating season ends.
It’s a journey that by no means may have occurred after the 2018 Olympics. She returned from these Video games “extremely depressed” after coming into as a multi-medal favorite and delivering fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes, plus a mass-start crash in addition.
“She was actually down and blaming herself, I suppose you’ll be able to say, to not medal. Nevertheless it wasn’t actually her fault,” says Nagy. The 2 had been collectively for a 12 months at that time, their relationship starting with a romantic date to the Chinese language embassy to get pictures for his or her Visa. They married in 2020.
Nagy takes some credit score for serving to Blondin get via her rut, however each he and Blondin level to their animals as enjoying the most important position in getting her via the frustration of Pyeongchang.
Certainly, Gizmo the parrot, Brooke the canine and Boo the cat helped distract Blondin, together with a gaggle of foster animals. Nagy recollects one canine who got here into their care with neurological injury. By the point it was adopted, because of Blondin’s nurturing, it was working 5 kilometres a day alongside Nagy.
“It is form of like my time of peace, I suppose, and stability in my life,” Blondin says of the time she spends together with her pets. “And yeah, it form of simply helped me press the reset button.”
All of it has allowed Blondin to move to Italy with out taking up outsized strain to succeed in the rostrum. She’ll want the freed-up psychological house to perform her targets, significantly within the mass begin, with methods and ways at play, particularly amongst nations who’ve a number of skaters competing. The Dutch have precipitated complications for Blondin, led just lately by Marijke Groenewoud.
“I am actually good associates with Marijke, which on the finish, like I am completely satisfied when she wins, however there’s at all times that little damaged piece in my coronary heart of like, ‘Rattling it.’ However yeah, I imply, to take a title within the mass begin could be like a dream come true at this level. … I do know I can do it,” Blondin says.
“I simply must have the proper tactical race and all the things form of has to play. And I do not maintain all these playing cards, proper? I can management a race to a sure extent, however there’s 24 ladies on the road on the similar time.”
Then there’s the group pursuit, the place Blondin, Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann enter as defending champions.
It’s uncommon that any trio returns for an additional Video games, with just some tinkering in its order. What’s maybe much more shocking is that the Canadians made it via one other quadrennial regardless of some friction.
“Beijing, regardless that we acquired a medal, it was fairly messy in a way that like outdoors of the ice, it was not nice, I’d say. However as soon as we acquired onto the ice, all the things was flawless,” Blondin says.
“Let’s simply say like we did not essentially get alongside tremendous nice off the ice and that made it a little bit bit tough.”
However some bridges have since been mended.
“I would not say we’re like BFFs, however I undoubtedly really feel much more linked to my teammates than I did previously. So, it is undoubtedly a brand new period of our ladies’s group pursuit, regardless that it is the very same group, it was simply ever-evolving,” she says. “I am trying ahead to it.”
Eldering says chemistry within the occasion is “fairly necessary,” however the Canadians have loads of expertise to make up for not being collectively on a regular basis.
“We all know that we already did it as soon as. We have accomplished it earlier than. Meaning we will additionally do it once more. And there’s some strain, however there additionally comes some great things with that,” he says.
Heading into her fourth Olympics, regardless of the depth that’s by no means wavered, Blondin has realized to take care of the strain a little bit otherwise.
“I may have a terrific day, may have a foul day, who is aware of? However yeah, group pursuit, mass begin — undoubtedly aiming for these medals,” she says. “Even when it does not occur, I am nonetheless pleased with the profession that I had and I will be disillusioned, but it surely’s not going to be the top of the world, you already know?”
And are available summertime? She’ll be again on her bike, able to cycle off into the sundown in a approach that solely she will be able to.
“You’ll be able to hit the pavement and hit the deck or hit a concrete submit as a result of there’s generally concrete posts within the [middle] of a race,” she says. “However I do not even take into consideration that. I am simply full-send on a regular basis. “Like, maintain my beer.”
