Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., skates to a first-place finish in the women's 1000m event at the ISU World Single Distance Speedskating Championships in Richmond, B.C., on Saturday. Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., skates to a first-place finish in the women's 1000m event at the ISU World Single Distance Speedskating Championships in Richmond, B.C., on Saturday. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Canada's Christine Nesbitt won gold in the women's 1,000 metres, and teammates Clara Hughes and Kristina Groves took silver and bronze in the 5,000 Saturday at the word single-distance speedskating championships at B.C.'s Richmond Olympic Oval.

The three-medal day brought Canada's total to seven at the championships, taking place at the venue for the 2010 Winter Games.

Nesbitt, from London, Ont., skated a time of one minute 16.28 seconds to beat Germany's Anni Friesinger (1:16.32) and Margot Boer of the Netherlands (1:16.44) in the 1,000.

"Today I thought it could end up being an awful race but I have to try something new," Nesbitt said. "That something new was to take my time in this race, to use my strength and to push into the ice instead of just kind of running on top of it and not getting my power in.

"I had an incredible last outer turn and back straightaway. I can't believe my last lap made up so much time. I'm so proud of myself for what I can do when I take the time to do it properly."

Ottawa's Kristina Groves finished ninth while skating alongside Winnipeg's Shannon Rempel, who was 16th.

Strong performances

Later, Winnipeg's Hughes and Groves finished second and third, respectively, in the 5,000.

Martina Sablikova won the race in 6:57.84, with Groves claiming the silver in 7:00.54 and Hughes the bronze in 7:02.91.

Winnipeg's Brittany Schussler was 11th in 7:13.85.

Groves took bronze in the women's 3,000 on Thursday, and Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., captured silver in the men's 1,000 and bronze in the 1,500.

Groves also finished first in the 1,500 on Friday, only to be disqualified when officials ruled she had left her lane. The decision elevated Friesinger to the gold-medal position and bumped Nesbitt up to the bronze.

Sven Kramer of the Netherlands won the gruelling men's 10,000 on Saturday, with Norway's Havard Bokko second and Dutchman Bob de Jong third. Regina's Lukas Makowsky, the only Canadian entry, finished 11th.

Competition concludes with four more events on Sunday.