Canada sets Olympic record in women's team pursuit gold medal win

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Team Canada came back from behind to beat Japan, the defending women's team pursuit Olympic champions, in Beijing on Tuesday and set a new Olympic record in the process.

Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann won the gold medal with a time of 2 minutes 53.44 seconds, beating the Olympic record set by Japan days earlier by two-tenths of a second.

It is Canada's first gold medal in the event.

Ayano Sato, Miho Takagi and Nana Takagi of Japan finished the race with a time of 3 minutes 4.47 seconds.

The Canadian women claimed victory after trailing the Japanese by more than a second following the first half lap, but they were able to chip away at the lead, narrowing it to just 0.32 seconds with a half lap remaining.

The with the lead and coming out of the final turn, Japan's Nana Takagi skating anchor of the three-woman train spilled across the ice, causing her to cross the finish line in tears more than 11 seconds after the final Canadian.

Canada made it to the finals by downing the Netherlands, who would go on to handily beat the Russian Olympic Committee for the bronze by 1.79 seconds.

The win gives Weidmann her Canada-leading third medal at the Beijing games after earning the silver in the 5,000 meters and the bronze in the 3,000 meters.