Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Quebec had an outstanding weekend in World Cup speed skating in Stavanger, Norway. The World Cup leader won a gold medal in the men’s 500 metre World Cup race on Saturday and then a silver medal in the men’s 500 metre World Cup race on Sunday. Team Canada won two more medals in events that have Olympic status. Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Alberta won the bronze medal in the men’s 10000 metre and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa, Ontario won the silver medal in the women’s 5000 metres.
Dubreuil had a time of 34.573 seconds on Saturday. Artem Arefyev of Russia won the silver medal with a time of 34.608 seconds. Marek Kania of Poland won the bronze medal with a time of 34.653 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.165 seconds over Joon-Ho Kim of South Korea, who had a fourth place time of 34.738 seconds.
Dubreuil then had a time of 34.610 seconds on Sunday. Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan won the gold medal with a time of 34.578 seconds. Arefyev won the bronze medal with a time of 34.671 seconds. Dubreuil reached the podium by .078 seconds over fourth-place finisher Wataru Morishige of Japan, who had a fourth-place time of 34.688 seconds. In the World Cup standings, Dubreuil has 216 points, and leads Shinhama by two points.
Bloemen, who won the gold medal in the men’s 10000 metres at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, had a third place time in Stavanger on Saturday of 13 minutes, 0.23 seconds. Nils van der Poel of Sweden won the gold medal with a time of 12:38.928. Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 12:56.088. Bloemen reached the podium by 7.509 seconds over Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, who had a fourth place time of 13:07.739.
Weidemann had a second place time on Friday in the women’s 5000 metres of 6:54.953. Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 6:52.837. Ragne Wiklund of Norway won the bronze medal with a time of 6:56.469. Weidemann reached the podium by 5.841 seconds over Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, who had a fourth-place time of 7:00.794. The medals for Dubreuil, Bloemen, and Weidemann will give them confidence in their preparation for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
