With the top three skaters separated by just .08 seconds, the 5000m podium was closer than the 500m podium in the men’s competition at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA on Saturday. Casey Dawson (USA) beat Graeme Fish (CAN) by .02 seconds to win the longest distance, with Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) third.
Casey Dawson won gold over 5000m at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
In the 500m, Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) was .04 seconds quicker than Wataru Morishige (JPN) to retain his Four Continents title, with Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) .09 seconds back to seize bronze.
Close call in longest distance
In the 5000m, Dawson took the ice immediately after Fish completed the race in a time of 6:14.16, which was more than 12 seconds faster than Kotaro Kasahara (JPN), who had the fastest time in the first four pairings. Dawson knew what he had to do.
“I went into it with my own plan. Starting out at a 6:16 pace and trying to hold it there for as long as I could. I started building down a little sooner than I wanted to, but I felt good. Ï knew it was going to be close to Graeme’s time, because I was expecting about 6:16, and then I heard my coach yell 6:14, and I knew Graeme was on 6:14, so I was like, okay, if I hold it here, I can be close to his time.”
Dawson eventually stopped the clock at 6:14.14, a mere .02 seconds ahead of his Canadian rival.
“Overall, it's my second fastest 5000m ever, so I'm pretty excited about that."
But the race wasn’t over yet, because Bloemen was still up in the final pairing. The former World Champion took off fast and was almost six seconds quicker than Dawson halfway through the race. Dawson was nervous.
“I was scared. Is he going to hold this time? I saw his time starting to creep up a little bit. but he's a former world-record holder. He could probably build it back down again.”
Ted-Jan Bloemen settled for bronze in the 5000m at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
But Bloemen didn’t bring it back down again. Whereas Dawson skated a negative split, Bloemen posted slower lap times in the second half of the race, eventually finishing .08 seconds shy of gold.
It was Dawson's first career individual international medal at the senior level.
“I didn’t really expect to beat him. That‘s exciting.”
Fish was excited, too. The one-time world-record holder over 10,000m is trying to regain his form after struggling with the long-term ramifications of a COVID-19 infection.
“Last year, I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. That means my immune system is actually attacking my liver. Originally when I was told this, I wasn't actually allowed to skate at all last year. So I took two months off training, just to make sure everything was okay and everything kind of went in the right direction. So I was lucky that I was even able to skate last year, but it's been a long way.”
Graeme Fish was just .02 seconds slower than Casey Dawson over 5000m at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Considering his back story, Fish was happy to be competitive again.
“I love skating so I wouldn't do anything else. It's nice to get back into shape and skate like I used to. It's been a while since I've been able to go that fast, so it's nice that we're kind of climbing in the right direction toward the World Championships. Obviously there's still some things to work on, but Casey had a really good race. Some of the laps were crazy. I thought he was going to blow me out of the water, but yeah, it was close.”
Bloemen also praised Dawson.
“He skated a great race and he’s a deserved winner.”
He wasn’t content with his own skating, however.
“I’ve worked towards this phase in the season, because we have back-to-back races in Salt Lake City and it’s nice to get two chances (at fast ice). I tried to be in shape here and worked a lot on my speed. You could see that in the first part of the race. The speed came easy, but then I think I started out a little too fast. It was a bad race, but sometimes the difference between a bad race and a good race is very small, especially when, like me, you rely mostly on your technique.”
Bloemen has not given up on trying to make the best of the Salt Lake City doubleheader.
“We’ll have to tweak little bits and pieces, and then everything’s possible next week.”
Win a confidence-booster for Dubreuil
After struggling with injuries, Dubreuil seems to be back on track. Stopping the clock at 34.19, the Canadian left World Cup leader Morishige .04 seconds behind. Shinhama was third in 34.28.
Laurent Dubreuil won 500m gold, Wataru Morishige silver and Tatsuya Shinhama bronze at the Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
World Champion Jordan Stolz (USA) was.02 seconds quicker than Shinhama, but he was disqualified for an irregular kick-finish.
Dubreuil was pleased to retain his title, after winning gold in his hometown Quebec last year.
“That was special because it was at home, but in the 500m there were just a few top skaters. This year, almost everybody’s here. In most distances, Europeans are much stronger, but in the Four Continents (Championships) the 500m for men and also for women is really stronger. In the fall there was only one European medal in the World Cups. It was only Japanese skaters, Jordan (Stolz) and myself. The whole field is here. That's the guys I got to beat in one month at the World Championship, and to be able to beat them today, I know I have a chance.”
For schedules and results of the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships, please visit the webpage here.
Subscribe to the ISU YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #SpeedSkating.
For all information about the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, please visit the webpage here.
Stay connected with the ISU:
ISU Website: ISU News
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
ISU Newsletter: Subscribe to our weekly Newsletter to get the latest news and press releases
