In the days of auld lang syne

Elise Christie officially announced her retirement today.

By Carl Savard

Photo by Martin Holtom

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne

I clearly remember when I first witnessed Elise Christie skating. It was during the Vancouver Olympics. I had been interested in short track speed skating for a very long time and used to follow the performances of Canadian athletes, but like too many sports fans, my interest was mostly focused on the competitions at the Olympics. As I had done at all previous Games since the arrival of short track at the Olympics, I intended to follow the races closely. Elise was 20 years old at the time and it was clear that technically and strategically she was not yet on par with the greats of the sport, but there was no doubt about her potential and physical strength. A diamond in the rough. In her quarter-final heat in the 500m, she skated against Marianne St-Gelais, among others. She seemed faster at times than the Canadian, but did not have the tools to take the lead. These games were the beginning of a great career for Elise Christie and also changed something for my family. The following fall my son started short track and for the past 5 years we have been together at the helm of Passion/Speed/Skating.

Dare to be honest and fear no labor

When I noticed her at the Olympics in 2010, I never thought I would eventually write articles about the sport and have the opportunity to sit with athletes and chat. I remember being nervous about my interview with Elise in 2018. To me it was clear she was working hard, she was strong and was doing the best she could with the tools she had and the ones her federation could offer. I felt like I had seen her grow in the sport and I had become a fan and sometimes, as fans we can be disappointed when we have the opportunity to meet with the athletes we have cheered for. When I was finally able to have a moment with her, someone had just spilled a coffee on her and I remember being afraid she would want to cut short the interview. She didn’t. She was honest, funny, open. We talked for almost an hour about the good and the bad, about sport but also about life. Even though life may have been even tougher after we met, just like on the ice she pushed through, worked hard and came out a winner. I know the ultimate goal was to win at the Olympics, but I’m one of those who thinks world champion is much better than olympic champion. 

O Champion, my Champion.

Lang may yer lum reek!

Enough with my feelings, here’s Elise’s official statement. 

I’ve been putting this off. 

I will have a lot to say and I know a lot of people with have a lot of questions… but for now it’s time to announce my retirement from short track speed skating. 

This won’t be the last you’ll see of me in sport, but I’m taking a new venture down a different path. 

Part of my heart will always be missing because I never achieved my end goal. But I leave this sport knowing it’s left in good hands, with skaters capable of doing what I didn’t.

I changed this sport in this country, I defied odds, never made excuses for having less than my opponents, and I walk away with over 70 World Cup/European and world championship medals, and a fourth place at the Olympics…. Only three of those medals are in team events. I also broke a world record. 

I am not a decorated Olympian but I am a decorated athlete. 

I’m sorry I let you all down, and I’m so thankful to so many people… especially @uk_sport who stuck by me my entire career. 

For now I’ll be focusing on helping the rest of the team and getting into coaching… I won’t reveal for now my sporting plans for 2026, but the Olympic medal dream isn’t over. 

Lots of love everyone

-Elise

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World Record on 10000m for van der Poel, surprise 1500m win for Wiklund

The 2021 World Long Track Speed Skating Championship came to an end today in Heerenveen.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: ISU Speed skating - Getty Images

On the final day of the 2021 World Long Track Championship, the ladies’ and men’s 1500m, the ladies’ 5000m and the men's 10,000m were on the program.  

Wiklund causes surprise in 1500m

Twenty-year-old Norwegian Ragne Wiklund caused a surprise in the 1500m by setting a new personal best of 1:54.613 and taking the coveted world title. Wiklund, who has never before won an individual World Cup medal, spoiled herself today with a World Championship title. Brittany Bowe of the U.S., and Evegeniia Lalenkova of Russia were second and third respectively.

Consolation for Krol

After being disqualified for a false start yesterday on 1000m, Dutchman Thomas Krol won the title today on 1500m. His time of 1:43.752, one of the fastest times in Heerenveen's history, put him at the top of the podium. It is Krol’s second career world title on 1500m. Kjeld Nuis came very close but finished the day in second place. Patrick Roest completed the Dutch podium sweep.

 

Another victory for van der Poel

Swedish sensation Nils van der Poel won his second World Championship title of the weekend with a legendary performance on 10,000m. The 24-year-old skater skated the new world record on the distance of 12:32.949. This record is very spectacular considering it was not set in Salt Lake City or Calgary, where altitude usually favours such marks. The previous world record of 12:33.86 belonged to Canadian Graeme Fish, who was absent this weekend. Jorrit Bergsma from the Netherlands finished second at 12:45.868 and Russia's Alex Rumyantsev was third with a new personal best of 12:54.746.

Schouten victorious in the 5000m

Irene Schouten, who started in the first of six pairs, skated her personal best and set the reference time of 6:48.537. No one was able to dethrone her in the next five pairs. Schouten added this world championship title to her two bronze medals on 3000m and mass start from earlier in the championship. Russia's Natalia Voronina finished second while Dutch Carlijn Achtereekte took third place.

For the complete results, click HERE

For our day 1 recap, click HERE

For our day 2 recap, click HERE

For our day 3 recap, click HERE

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Dubreuil world champion, team pursuit victories for the Netherlands

The world's best speed skaters took the ice in Heerenveen today for the second day of the 2021 World Championships.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: ISU Speed skating

On day 2, the team pursuit and the 500m were on the program.

Dubreuil crowned

Canada's Laurent Dubreuil captured the world title on 500m with a time of 34.398 seconds. This is the first career title for the 28-year-old skater, who had won a medal in three of the four 500m races this season. Rounding out the podium were Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov and Dutchman Dai Dai Ntab. 

Golikova 500m Champion

Angelina Golikova won the women's 500m in 37.14 seconds. Twenty-year-old Femke Kok from the Netherlands finished second while Olga Fatkulina finished third. World and European short track champion Suzanne Schulting finished 14th. 

Revenge for the Dutch in the team pursuit

After losing to the Norwegians and Canadians at the last World Cup, the Dutch team had their revenge today at world championships by winning both the men's and women's competition. In both categories, Canada took silver and the Russian Federation took bronze.

The World championship continues tomorrow with the mass start and the 1000m.

For the complete results, click HERE

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Lara van Ruijven: "I hope when the time comes, someone will tell me ‘It was nice, but now you’re done!’"

Lara van Ruijven is one of the reasons why the women’s short track team in the Netherlands is presently at its golden age and she hopes she can still have a positive impact on the team for a few more years.

By Carl Savard

Photos by Danny Kim, Oscar van den Bosch and Lara van Ruijven's personnal collection

Lara van Ruijven was a bit shy when we started chatting. From the get go, she told me she was a bit nervous when answering questions in english. The Dutch athlete says her french was good when she was young but she lost it and she then learned english in high school. After a few minutes of small talk and basic questions, it became evident that her english was much better then she made it sound and I was able to get to know more about the 2019 500m world champion. 

Born in Naaldwijk, a small community sitting just outside of The Hayes, Lara van Ruijven’s debut on the ice happened at a young age. “Speed skating entered my life when I was six years old. I started in long track and a friend of mine, Adwin Snellink, was skating too. One day our parents were chatting and talked about the possibility of me trying short track. I tried it and never went back to long track other than to work on things that could help me in short track.” Van Ruijven grew up in a family where sport was important. “I grew up playing soccer, tennis, practicing short track and field hockey. My father used to be a cyclist when he was young and my mom played tennis. My older brother was also playing field hockey. I was part of an active family. When I was about 10 years old, one of my dream was already to be olympic champion but I didn’t know if it was going to be in short track or field hockey. When I was seventeen I was invited to join the training center in Heerenveen and it’s at that moment that skating became more serious. At the time, I was in my last year of high school and I felt kind of sad that I had to move to another school to join the program and miss my graduation ball, but there was no way I was going to decline the invitation.” 

Moving to Heerenveen and joining the national team meant being trained by Jeroen Otter, arguably the best coach in the short track world at the moment. “Jeroen is always telling you the truth, even the things you don’t want to hear. He is really straightforward and doesn’t care if it’s something nice or not and it’s a good quality in a coach. He always wants to evolve and he doesn’t likes routine. He’s always looking for new things to help us get better like having skaters from other countries training with us. Some people are afraid to share their ways of training but I don’t think there are really big secrets surrounding it. I think it’s a great way to learn and it pushes you to get better. I also like the fact that we are with the boys on the ice during training. I can’t imagine being only with the girls. Even just for the atmosphere it’s great. Boys are more relaxed in training, they make jokes, releasing the pressure and I think it’s good.”

During the discussion, we talked for a moment about how much the program has evolved since she joined. “I remember when I joined the team, we were not that good in the relay even though the young ones joining now see us as a top team. We had to work hard. I remember we couldn’t follow in the relay and in the last ten laps there was always a gap between us and the leaders. Now the young skaters know that if they join the team there is a good chance they are going to skate for an A final.”  Other than the relay results, van Ruijven's career also grew fast. After starting by being a great relay athlete and eventually climbing the individual rankings, 2019 saw the 27-year-old become world champion. While working towards reaching the top is hard, staying there is even more difficult. “When I got back to training I was more relaxed than the previous season. Instead of thinking ‘I had a good season but didn’t get the medals and need to do more’ I was thinking “Oh I did it!’ and maybe that’s why at the beginning of the season I wasn’t as hungry as I used to be in the previous seasons and didn’t give the extra push needed to win. Even though everyone told me I would feel the pressure now that I had become a world champion, I didn’t really. I love the competition even though I’m always so nervous when the season starts. I’m not a beast in training and I have difficulties knowing where I stand when I’m not competing so competition feels good.”

Talking about competition, the men’s 500m has always been seen as the big show in short track, but for the last two seasons, the women’s 500m has been just as amazing. As reigning world champion on the distance, van Ruijven has to battle against the strongest group of women to ever race the distance in Martina Valcepina, Yara van Kerkhof, Natalia Maliszewska, Qu Chunyu, Fan Kexin and world record holder Kim Boutin. “It’s super fast right now and more women are performing at a higher level. It’s exciting for the fans but it’s exciting for the skaters too. It feels good just being in an A final now.”

With the season that just ended abruptly, we now are more than halfway through the olympic cycle leading to Beijing 2022. Like most athletes competing in an olympic driven sport, Lara van Ruijven’s focus is set on the Games. Although she seems to be reaching her peak, she also feels like her career is closer to the end than the beginning. “I can’t see myself still skating when I’m 34 like Charles Hamelin or Viktor Ahn. When I went to the Sochi Olympics I knew I was going to help the relay and was skating the 500m but I was not that good and thought ‘Next Olympics in Pyeongchang I’m going to skate the 500m again and win a medal and quit” but it didn’t go as planned. After Pyeongchang I didn’t feel like quitting despite not getting the results I had in mind. I felt I still could do much better. So now, I’m working on Beijing with the same goal of winning and I’ll evaluate what I do after the Games. Maybe I’ll skate one or two seasons after Beijing 2022 and then concentrate on studying law. I know now I’ll quit when I feel like I can’t get better but right now I’m still having fun. I discovered in the last few years that you can have plans but it doesn’t really mean anything. You can’t know in advance what is going to happen in your personal life and your athlete’s life. I don’t want to have a pathetic ending to my career. I hope when the time comes someone around me will tell me ‘Lara, quit! It was nice but now you’re done!’”

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Dutch and Canadian Glory in Salt Lake City on Day 4

On the final day of the 2020 edition of the World Single Distance Championships, skaters took to the ice to determine this year’s world champions in both the 1500m and Mass Start in front of hordes of fans at the Utah Olympic Oval.

By Maria Dalton

Photo by Maria Dalton

Double Dutch in the 1500m

In the women’s 1500m it was a day of personal bests as 16 out of 24 skaters recorded a PB on the distance. The top skater on the day was the Netherlands legendary Ireen Wust who finished with a time of 1:50.925 to successfully defend her world championship crown. A pair of Russian skaters Evgenila Lalenkova and Elizaveta Kazelina rounded off the podium to continue to add to the Russian squad’s medal tally from these championships. Lalenkova finished with a time of 1:51.137 while her compatriot Kazeline finished with a time 1:51.418 – both PBs.  Canadians Ivanie Blonding, Isabelle Weidemann and Abigail McCluskey finished in seventh, 16th and 19th respectively – with Weidemann and McCluskey recording new PBs.

On the men’s side it was Kjeld Nuis who claimed the top spot on the podium with his time of 1:41.664 – nearly a second shorter than his world record time from last year on the same ice during the world cup final. Nuis finished a disappointing fifth at last year’s Single Distance Championships in Germany and is clearly a big fan of the oval here in Salt Lake City. Fellow Dutchman Thomas Krol finished just behind him with a time of 1:41.735 to take the silver medal. The United States’ Joey Mantia rounded off the podium with his PB time of 1:42.164. This medal is the first medal of Mantia’s career at the WSD in the 1500m, and he is also the only American to have captured a medal at these championships. Canadians Antoine Genlinas-Beaulieu, Tyson Langelaar and Connor Howe finished in 7th, 9th and 19th respectively.

Canadians steal the show in the Mass Start

As the 2020 edition of the World Single Distance Championships wound down there were only two races left on the program – the men’s and women’s mass start. With the women’s group up first it was Ivanie Blondin who came out on top to capture the Mass Start crown after falling just short last year. Following close behind her was Korea’s Bo-Reum Kim who was a mere 2 tenths of a second short of being crowned world champion. Dutch skater Irene Schouten rounded out the top three – a disappointing finish compared to her first-place finish last year.

In the men’s mass start it was Dutchman Jorrit Bergsma who came out on top ahead of two Canadian skaters – Jordan Belchos and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu. The Dutch skater finished just of the podium two days prior in the 10000m and is surely happy to have been crowned world champion in the MS. Coming in second was Jordan Belchos, who won his first mass start gold this season in Nagano, finished just behind Bergsma to bring home the silver. Rounding off the podium was Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu – a surprising result for the French Canadian who has never found himself within the top-10 in a mass start final before. With Gelinas-Beaulieu’s medal the Canadians managed to come away with half the medals on offer in the Mass Start.

Many skaters now have a short break before heading to Norway for the joint world Sprint and Allround world championships in two weeks.

You can browse the full results HERE

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Fish lowers the 10 000m world record in Salt Lake City, Bloemen gets silver

Single distances speed skating championships continued today in Salt Lake City.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Maria Dalton

Mens’ 10 000m, ladies’ team pursuit as well as ladies’ and men’s 500m were on the program of this second day of racing at the Utah Olympic Oval. 

Fish gets the record and the title 

Canadian Graeme Fish is the new fastest 10 000m skater ever. The Saskatchewan born skater claimed the world title on the distance with his world record time of 12:33.86. His teammate and 5000m world champion Ted-Jan Bloemen finished second while German Patrick Beckert finished third.

Japanese team pursuit champions

In the ladies’ team pursuit, Nana Takagi, Miho Takagi and Ayano Sato established a world record on the distance. Their time of 2:50.76 was well enough to beat the Netherlands and Canada who got silver and Bronze.

Kulizhnikov and Kodaira get gold on 500m

Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov won the 500m with a time of 33.727. His teammate Ruslan Murashov and Japanese Tatsuya Shinhama completed the podium.

Japanese Nao Kodaira won the ladies’ 500m title in 36.692. Russians Angelina Golikova and Olga Fatkulina got silver and bronze.

You can browse the full results HERE

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Canada shines on 5000m at World Championships

The 2020 world single distances speed skating championships started today in Salt Lake City. 

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Maria Dalton

Some of the best skaters in the world competed in the ladies’ 3000m, men’s 5000m and team sprint events on the first day of racing in Salt Lake City.

Title #6 for Sablikova on 3000m

Czech skater Martina Sablikova won her 6th 3000m world title in career today. She registered a time of 3:54.252 to claim the first gold medal of the weekend. Dutch Carlijn Achtereekte and Russian Natalia Voronina finished second and third. 

Two Canadians on the 5000m podium

Olympic champion Ted-Jan Bloemen won the men’s 5000m world title with a time of 6:04.375. Dutch veteran Sven Kramer got silver finishing half a second behind the Canadian while rising Canadian star Graeme Fish skated his personal best time on the distance to finish third and collect his first World championship medal in career. The third Canadian to compete on the distance was Jordan Belchos who finished 5th. Patrick Roest who was unbeaten on the distance so far this season was disqualified.

Team sprints go to the Netherlands

The Dutch trio composed of Femke Kok, Letitia de Jong and Jutta Leerdam won the ladies’ team sprint in front of team Russia and Team Poland. In the men’s category, Dai Dai Ntab, Kai Verbij and Thomas Krol gave the Netherlands the world title. China and Norway completed the podium. Canadian skaters originally won, but they got disqualified due to their last exchange.

For the full results, click HERE

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