Geanne Blais-Dufour knows all about the havoc Mother Nature can play on an outdoor speed skating oval.
Ice conditions on her 400-metre home track in Ste-Foy, Que., near Quebec City can be as unpredictable as the weather.
But on Sunday morning, half a continent away in Prince George, she had no concerns about the ice on her path to a gold medal at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
Not with that engine she had driving her blades.
Blais-Dufour, 19, won the women's 1,500m long track speed skating event by nearly two seconds, giving Quebec its first medal of the Games.
Blais-Dufour was in the last pairing of the day, lined up with Abigail McCluskey of Penticton, and set a torrid pace, posting an opening split time of 28.21 seconds. She finished in 2:18.20.
Sara Spence of Kamloops won silver (2:20.50) and Adeleine Maudner of Edmonton earned bronze (2:20.80).
"The 1,500 is not my favourite," said Blais-Dufour. "It was a hard race, one of the hardest races for me and I had to work hard at the start because I needed to start fast. I was a bit stressed about Abigail but at the end it was OK because I knew I could beat her. I was just in my race.
"The ice was great. I thought it would be a little soft but it was perfect. It's the best I've been on this year. I didn't see better ice in Quebec."
Blais-Dufour splits her training time evenly between the outdoor track and the arena in Quebec City. She also races short track and last year competed in the long track world championships in Norway.
"The 1,500 is not really her best distance, she just wants to win," said Quebec coach Fanny Michaud. "She has a really good mental attitude and she she trains hard all day."
Dylan White of Calgary captured the men's 3,000m race, winning gold in 4:18.84. Guillaume Labb of Baie-Saint-Paul, Que., skated to silver (4:23.22) and Kevin Yaholnitsky of Calgary was the bronze medalist (4:26.03). Nico Hiller of Prince George was sixth.
It's amazing and pretty sweet winning a medal -- all my teammates were cheering me and my mom especially," said Spence, 18, who trains with the Alberta team at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. "I'm proud of this medal just because of my dad, just really proud."
Spence saw her mom Cathy in the crowd and tears pored down her cheeks as she reflected on her medal win, thinking about the years of practice she and her brother Eric and older sisters Torie and Josie (who won a combined six medals at the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax) have devoted to the sport and the support they received from their parents along the way.
Spence's father Owen, a co-founder and coach of the River City Racers Speed Skating Club in Kamloops, died in an accident in December 2008. He was instrumental in organizing the Logan Lake Loop Invitational outdoor race and was prominent in Sara thoughts in the aftermath of Sunday's race.
"All the kids still include their dad and think about him in all they are doing and I'm thankful that he's a big part of their lives, he was a very strong and good influence," said Cathy Spence.
"I'm really pleased for her, having two older sisters who skated well and often got more of the limelight and now it's her turn to shine."
In other women's results, Carolina Hiller of Prince George was fifth and McCluskey was seventh, giving B.C. four top-10 finishes in the women's race.
"We know we have a strong girls team and we have high expectations so we're really happy with the medal, it was a good first day," said B.C. team coach Richard Stickel. "We know Alberta and Quebec are the two powers right now with the girls but we also have expectations to win medals."
