Ottawa’s Kristina Groves won the first Canadian Olympic speed skating medal on Sunday at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.
The 33-year-old earned the bronze medal after a finish time of four minutes, 4.84 seconds in the women’s 3,000-metre event.
She was topped by the Czech Republic’s Martina Sablikova, who took gold, and Germany’s Stephanie Beckert, who took silver.
Groves will participate in four other events during the Vancouver Games, including the 1,000 m, 1,500 m, 5,000 m, and the team pursuit. The Winter Olympics in Vancouver are her third Olympic Games after Salt Lake City in 2002 and Torino in 2006.
Groves previously earned two silver Olympic medals four years in Torino. She has also won a medal at every World Championship since 2007, winning the 3,000-metre race in 2008’s Nagano Games.