She began her career competing in short track speed skating while a youth in the Gloucester Concordes skating club. She competed there with fellow Olympian Vincent De Haître, to whom she feels like an older sister.[6] After Blondin failed to qualify in short track for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver she nearly quit sport. Mike Rivet, her coach in Gloucester, convinced her to switch to long track, a decision in which she says, "I was ready to quit skating because I was just so discouraged and disappointed with it. I think (the switch) was the best decision I could have ever made."[6] As a result, Blondin represented Canada in both the long-distance events at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as well as the team pursuit event.
Blondin won her first major competitive medal when she placed second in the mass start event at the 2015 World Single Distance Championships. After the race, she said, "I would have preferred the gold medal, but finishing first at this stage of my career remains a big accomplishment for me, so I'm super pumped with second place. I'm ecstatic with the result, which follows a fantastic season."[2]
In January 2022, Blondin was named to her first Olympic team.[8][9][10] Blondin would go on to win the gold medal as part of the team pursuit event.[11][12] Blondin next competed in the mass start event at the Olympics, comfortably winning her semifinal to go on to the final. There, with one lap to go, Blondin made her move while following behind Irene Schouten; over the last turn, Blondin led, but Schouten pushed passed her to edge her out for the gold. Blondin happily settled for the silver medal, her second of these games.[13] After the race, she spoke with CBC Sports telling them of her preferred event in the mass start that "These races, the mass start, it fires me up. I'm a little bit of a fighter, and I'm very competitive, so the fact that girls were pushing me and there was a lot of jostling and pushing and shoving around just fires me up and kinda gets me going."[13]
Personal life
Blondin started skating in her backyard at the age of 2. She initially was in figure skating, but seeing herself as a tomboy, she was more inclined to speed skating and took that up at age seven instead.[14] Blondin said she loved the feeling of speed on her skates, which is why she chose the sport over cross-country skiing.[14] Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Blondin attended École secondaire catholique Garneau, a catholic French high school; she completed a Veterinary Assistant program at Robertson College online and has a pet parrot named Gizmo and a St. Bernard-Pyrenees cross named Brooks.[14] Blondin married Hungarian speed skater Konrád Nagy in 2020.[15]
