Laurent Dubreuil of Quebec City, Quebec has won a silver medal for Canada in men’s speed skating at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. On Friday, Dubreuil placed second in the men’s 1000 metre speed skating event.
Dubreuil had a time of 1:08.32. Thomas Krol of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 1:07.92 and Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen of Norway won the bronze medal with a time of 1:08.48. Dubreuil reached the podium by 0.22 seconds over Piotr Michalski of Poland, who had a time of 1:08.56.
Dubreuil was expected to medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing–just in the men’s 500 metres, and not the 1000 metre event. But in the 1000 metre event, it was Dubreuil’s time to shine. He put together a marvelous opening split distance time of 16.09 seconds, and forced his opposition to catch him if they could. At the end of the day, it was only Krol who posted a better time.
Dubreuil was able to also focus mentally in the most challenging of circumstances. His opponent in lane 15, Kai Verbij of the Netherlands, pulled up on the final lap and finished last with a time of 1:14.17. Dubreuil did not allow the distraction to impact his race, and put together a sensational race in an event that is not his specialty.
That said, Dubreuil was a definite medal contender in the men’s 1000 metres. He previously won bronze in the men’s 1000 metres at the 2020 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City and another bronze medal in he men’s 1000 metres at the 2021 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
