Laurent Dubreuil of Canada reacts after winning the 500m in Calgary ©ISU
Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) believes his skating is “close to perfection” after winning another gold medal in the 500m to underline his career-best start to a World Cup season. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) returned to the World Cup circuit in Calgary taking silver. Patrick Roest (NED) failed in his quest to break the legendary 15-year-old 5000m track record, but still took gold by almost a four-second margin.
Father over skater
The men’s 500m made for some good suspense. Shinhama, who missed out on the first two World Cups because he failed to qualify at the Japanese trials, returned with a bang, stopping the clock at 34.18s in the first pairing.
No one went faster until the final paring, but many came close. Kim Jun-Ho (KOR) came 0.01s short and Yuma Murakami (JPN) finished 0.02s behind.
In the end only Dubreuil, who started in the final pairing with Wataru Morishige (JPN), was able to beat Shinhama, stopping the clock at 34.01s. The Japanese 2020 World Sprint Champion thus took silver and Kim claimed bronze.
Dubreuil thrives on confidence. Becoming a father - his daughter Rose was born in 2019 and his son Nathan last summer - has been instrumental.
“I’m a father before I'm a skater and also, the last few years I've had enough good results to check a few things that I wanted to do in my career, like an Olympic medal or a World Championship gold. So if for any reason, I‘d stop skating tomorrow, I'd be very happy with my career.
“I feel like every medal I win now, is like a kind of a bonus on top of a good career already. And at the same time, I still feel the best races are yet to come. I’m the best I've ever been and I can even still get better.”
With one silver and two gold medals Dubreuil has had a dream start this World Cup season.
“Yes, the only race in the 500 I didn't win, I was second [at the first World Cup in Stavanger on 12 November] and that race is one I'd like to have back, because I knew I made a few mistakes. But since then, my 500m has been close enough to perfection for wins every time. I feel like I've never been this good, and the field is a bit weaker than last year, partly because the Russians are not there, obviously.
“I feel like if I have a good race, it's mine. To me that means less pressure, because I know I can do it. I think it's more pressure when you're fifth or eighth or tenth, and you need a perfect race to win, then you cannot screw up anything. But I know I can maybe miss the first 10 meters of my race and still win, because I know I'm good enough to allow myself to make a small mistake or two.”
Shinhama turns failure into success
(L-R) Tatsuya Shinhama, Laurent Dubreuil and Kim Jun-Ho on the 500m podium ©ISU
Shinhama had been forced to sit out the first two World Cup events, but he used the fact that he had failed to qualify to his advantage. He said:
“I was really focusing on the third World Cup event, while I was watching the first two from Japan. The level was very high in the 500m and I was wondering where I would end up in that field.
“My goal was to be on the podium here in Calgary. It was the first time to race a World Cup with such a goal in mind. I trained myself by planning how to race step by step, while others were racing in the World Cups, and this silver medal is the result of my efforts.”
Convincing win but no track record for Roest
After having confidently won the first two 5000m World Cup races, Roest had set his sights on the legendary Sven Kramer's (NED) track record of six minutes and 3.32s. He did not quite make it but finishing in 6:05.60, the Dutchman left the rest of the field far behind.
Beau Snellink (NED) came second in 6:09.58 and Davide Ghiotto (ITA) third in 6:10.66.
“I think I have to be satisfied,” Roest said with a bit of a doubt in his voice. “Of course I had aimed higher. I left with the track record in mind, but I just don’t think the ice and my legs were good enough today.”
On a low-altitude track at the Heerenveen World Cup leg in November, Roest had skated a track record of 6:04.36, which gave him the impression that 6:03 at high-altitude Calgary would be feasible.
“Some guys were a little faster than they had been in Heerenveen and others not. The ice is not much better [than in Heerenveen] and when you leave on a schedule [for the track record] you break earlier than you would do Heerenveen.”
Patrick Roest is not taking his success in the 500m for granted ©Getty Images
Roest did not break, but he did struggle towards the end.
“The first laps came easy, but six laps before the end I knew it would get tough and I knew already that [the track record] was not possible today, so I just skated on to win the race.”
Beating the rest of the field by almost four seconds, was consolation, but Roest also knew that it would not give him any guarantees for the rest of the season.
“I have to be satisfied with that, because it’s about winning and I managed that. But I definitely don’t feel like I’m way ahead of the rest. I’ve won World Cups in the beginning of the season before, and then failed to produce when it really mattered. So I have to keep working [for the World Championships in February].”
Snellink is chasing
Snellink also keeps working, and the 21-year-old is chasing Roest.
“Everytime I race, I want to come a bit closer. I saw Sigurd Henriksen (NOR) skating faster than he had done in Heerenveen, and I thought: he’s young and constantly improving. I can do that too.”
Henriksen had skated a junior World record in Heerenveen [6:17.67 ] and did that again in Calgary, posting 6:13.85 to end up fifth.
With 6:09.59, Snellink was over two seconds faster than he had been in Heerenveen.
“The gap [between Snellink and Roest] is decreasing every race. I think that mentally and physically, I’m coming closer and closer.”
Snellink beat pair-mate Ghiotto by 1.08s in an exciting race. The Italian knows what he has to work on to get closer to Roest:
“He [Roest] is very fast in the 1500m too, and I’m not. He has a lot of speed, so I need to improve my speed as well.”
Program
The first Calgary World Cup starts with the 1500m and the Team Pursuit for Men, and the 500m and 3000m for Women. On Saturday the Women will skate the 1500m and the Team Pursuit, while the Men take on the 500m and the 5000m, and the Sunday schedule features the 1000m and Mass Start.
For all information about the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, please visit the webpage here.
World Cup Standings - Men
World Cup Standings - Women
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions (local time) via their national broadcaster/channel.
For countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to watch webpage here.
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series events 2022/23:
Nov 11 - 13, 2022 Stavanger /NOR
Nov 18 - 20, 2022 Heerenveen/ NED
Dec 09 - 11, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Dec 16 - 18, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Feb 10 - 12, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Feb 17 - 19, 2023 World Cup Final - Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
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