Canadian Christine Nesbitt concluded the best international performance of her young career Friday, capturing a silver medal in a women's 1,000-metre long track speed skating event.

The London, Ont., native skated to a time of one minute, 16.08 seconds during the opening World Cup event in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

Canadian Christine Nesbitt won a silver medal in the women's 1,000-metre long track speed skating event Friday in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
(Fred Ernst/Associated Press)

Olympic bronze medallist Anni Friesinger of Germany won the gold in 1:15.89, while Ireen Wust of the Netherlands finished third in 1:16.63.

"I didn't get too excited before the race and stayed focused," said Nesbitt, a member of Canada's women's pursuit team that won Olympic silver last February.

"I didn't know my pair very well [Nao Kodaira of Japan] but I was glad to have the outer lane so I could chase her down. At the last corner, I was feeling very tired."

Nesbitt, 21, competed ninth in a field of 15 pairs and appeared headed for her first gold medal until the final two skaters of the day. During the final pair, Friesinger surprised Olympic champion Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands, who wound up seventh.

"I didn't know whether my time would hold up, but I had built a pretty good gap at that point," said Nesbitt.  "I wasn't paying too much attention until I got off the ice after my warm-down and my teammates appeared to be pretty excited about my medal possibilities."

Ottawa's Kristina Groves was fifth in 1:17.44 and Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg finished sixth in 1:17.50. Fellow Winnipeg native Brittany Schussler was 24th and Krisy Myers of Lloydminster, Sask., placed 29th.

In the men's 1,500, Dutchman Erben Wennemars edged American Shani Davis to win gold, while Jan Bos of Netherlands took bronze.

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., who placed second in the World Cup standings last season, was the top Canadian in seventh.

In the men's 500, Calgary's Brock Miron was 17th, Mike Ireland of Winnipeg placed 21st and Vincent Labrie of St. Romuald, Que., struggled to 22nd. Morrison was fifth in the B Group.

In the women's 500, Rempel, who was the only Canadian competing in the final, finished 15th. Nesbitt, Regina's Kim Weger and Myers had a 1-2-3 finish in the B Group event, while Justine L'Heureux of St-Tite, Que., was ninth.

With files from Canadian Sport News