Even though inline speed skating has been going on for a while in Canada, there is no real culture of the sport yet. Athletes like Julien Armand and Maxime St-Jules, who just took part in the World championships in the Netherlands one months a go, may be the ambassadors of a new era.
By Jackob Savard
Photos by @freddyrace
We had the chance to chat with Julien Armand and Maxime St-Jules at Elton de Souza's skating clinic in Laval two weeks ago.
''What have I put myself in?''
"It was a bit intimidating at first" said St-Jules. "At the first training session on the track in Heerde, we saw Colombia skating all out relays on the outside portion of the track while France was doing easy laps on the inside of the track and Belgium and Germany were doing exercises at the center of the track. All at the same time, on the same track, it was pretty impressive" added the Montréal based skater. At one point he even asked himself what he was doing there. Canada doesn't often regroup big packs of skaters like the boys had to skate in at Worlds. Armand and St-Jules learned quickly that moving in a World Championships peloton is not that easy. "If you want to gain positions in the peloton you almost have to wait that someone lets you pass in front of them." said St-Jules. "We have to gain respect".Race in Europe
Armand and St-Jules both confirmed it's an experience they want to relive in the future and they are already preparing for the next seasons. There is a possibility that we'll see them race at some Europan Cup events next season. "In order to improve we have to race in Europe, we can't just go back to the World Championships and hope we'll do better." VRL inline speed skating club's coach, European championships medalist and former French junior champion Pierre Laurent think that our Canadian skaters could be really competitive on the world scene in 3 or 4 years with a good preparation.It will be interesting to see the path they'll take in the next few seasons and watch them skate. One thing is sure, Canada's inline speed skating scene is developping and the two skaters from Montréal are sure helping things out.
Click HERE for the full results of our Canadians at the inline speed skating World Championships.
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This is nothing new as Canadians have been learning the hard way that without racing else where in real races we will continue to be the pretender and never the contender.Racing marathons will not prepare our skaters for Worlds. They race on a bank track, not in parks. This is a much different game. Good luck in your training.
RépondreEffacerSorry for not answering earlier! We had a little problem with our website's comment section. It is definitively the truth, racing in Canada is nowhere near from international racing and the fact we have no track doesn't help. We're pretty exciting about Maxime St-Jules, Julien Armand and Marco Frusteri's ambition to represent Canada at the international level and we think it may help Canadian inline speed skating growth!
EffacerThanks for your comment
Jackob Savard
Passion/Speed/Skating