CALGARY 鈥� Laurent Dubreuil didn鈥檛 just break Jeremy Wotherspoon's Canadian record, he shattered it.
Dubreuil of Levis, Que., won gold in the men鈥檚 500 metres in a track-record time of 33.77 seconds on the opening day of the ISU World Cup speedskating event at Calgary鈥檚 Olympic Oval.
The 29-year-old sprinter鈥檚 time broke Wotherspoon's 14-year-old record of 34.03, which Dubreuil narrowly missed breaking by 2/100ths of second at last weekend's World Cup stop in Salt Lake City.
鈥淚t was a goal of mine this year to both beat Jeremy Wotherspoon鈥檚 Canadian record and skate under 34,鈥� said Dubreuil. 鈥淚 was very close last week, 34.05, but I made a few mistakes, so to have another chance to do it this weekend was big.鈥�
With Wotherspoon in attendance, Dubreuil beat what he referred to as a 鈥渕ythical time.鈥� After the race, the two talked about the record-setting accomplishment.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a competitor, but he told me he was happy that it was somebody he saw grow up skating and got better and (worked) hard to beat it,鈥� said Dubreuil, who will now have to set his sights on breaking the world record of 33.61 set in 2019 by Russia鈥檚 Pavel Kulizhnikov. 鈥淚 told him how much it means for me.鈥�
Dubreuil will have another shot to skate even faster on Sunday during the second 500m men鈥檚 race of the three-day event.
China鈥檚 Tingyu Gao won silver in a time of 33.87, while Japan鈥檚 Yuma Murakami captured bronze in 33.89. Both skated before Dubreuil as did Russia鈥檚 Viktor Mushtakov, who finished in 33.96.
鈥淚 saw the guys doing 33 earlier in the race and I was like, 鈥業 need to do 33 to win a medal today,鈥� so it鈥檚 going to be tough,鈥� Dubreuil said. 鈥淚鈥檝e tried all my life to go 33. I鈥檝e never done it until today.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult, but when you鈥檙e dialled in, when you鈥檙e on a good day and you feel great, skating is easy. It takes a lot of hard work for it to be easy, but today it felt easy because I was in the zone.鈥�
Inspired by Dubreuil鈥檚 accomplishment, Ottawa鈥檚 Isabelle Weidemann set a personal best with a time of 3:55.33 to win silver in the women鈥檚 3,000m.
鈥淥h my gosh, the girls and I were warming up on the track when he skated and we were mind blown,鈥� said Weidemann, who has a chance to win another medal Saturday when she, Ottawa鈥檚 Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que. skate in the women鈥檚 team pursuit. 鈥淲e knew that he was cooking up something good for a long time, but I don鈥檛 think anybody really expected him to go that fast.
鈥淲e were so hyped -- just on the track vibing from his time. The team is really cool to be a part of right now. We鈥檙e just feeding off each other and using the excitement to fuel our own races.鈥�
Italy鈥檚 Francesca Lollobrigida won gold in the women鈥檚 3,000 in a time of 3:54.43, while Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic finished third in 3:55.50.
Maltais placed sixth in 3:59.73, while Blondin clocked a time of 4:01.86 to finish 14th.
In the men鈥檚 5,000m, Calgary鈥檚 Ted-Jan Bloemen won bronze with a time of 6:09.52.聽
鈥淚 found something near the end of the race again and managed to finish really strong,鈥� said Bloemen, who wasn鈥檛 happy with how he started. 鈥淚 found a lot of confidence there. Unfortunately I couldn鈥檛 find that earlier.
鈥淚鈥檝e got more to come,鈥� he added. 鈥淟ast weekend I had a really bad race. This was so much better already. I鈥檓 really happy with the progression.鈥�
Sweden鈥檚 Nils van der Poel, who has been dominating the World Cup circuit in the long-distance category, won gold in time of 6:04.29, while Italy鈥檚 Davide Ghiotto finished in a time of 6:09.34 to take home silver.
Earlier in the day, Russia鈥檚 Olga Fatkulina set a personal best time of 36.72 on her way to winning gold in the women鈥檚 500m. Japan鈥檚 Nao Kodaira won silver in 36.81, while Russia鈥檚 Angelina Golikova earned bronze in 36.82.
Marsha Hudey of White City, Sask., was the top Canadian in 18th place in a time of 38.05.
The Canadian contingent at the event includes 16 men and 11 women and it鈥檚 the last chance for the skaters to pre-qualify for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2021.
Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press
