Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta won a bronze medal in a men’s 5000 metre World Cup race in Hamar, Norway on Monday. In five World Cup races this season, this was Bloemen’s first medal.
Bloemen posted a third place time of six minutes, 20.446 seconds. Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway won the gold medal with a time of six minutes, 16.168 seconds. Alexander Rumyantsev of Russia won the silver medal with a time of six minutes, 19.249 seconds.
Bloemen reached the podium by 0.208 seconds. Marcel Bosker of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of six minutes, 20.654 seconds.
With the medal, Bloemen moves into 11th place in the World Cup standings with 153 points. Pedersen leads with 237 points. The top Canadian in the men’s 5000 metre World Cup standings is Jordan Belchos of Toronto, Ontario with 163 points.
This was the fourth of five men’s 5000 metres World Cup races this season. The final race is in Salt Lake City, Utah in March.
The world’s best speed skaters will now be going to Inzell, Germany for the 2019 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, which start Thursday. Bloemen will be a strong medal contender in the men’s 5000 metres on Thursday and the men’s 10 000 metres on Saturday. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Bloemen won a gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres and a silver medal in the men’s 5000 metres. At the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Bloemen will once again be a strong medal contender in the men’s 5000 metres and men’s 10 000 metres.
