After more than ten years as a coach for Speed Skating Canada, Frederic Blackburn has been relieved of his duties.
The 47-year-old coach was under investigation following an harassment complaint made last spring by an athlete.
Upon receipt of the complaint, Speed Skating Canada placed Blackburn on leave of absence with pay and conducted an independent investigation.
As a result of this investigation, Speed Skating Canada made a decision to dismiss Blackburn.
What's next?
Until a new coach is hired, Sébastien Cros, who is already in charge of the men's program, will also serve as head coach of the women's team. Speed Skating Canada is expected to make an announcement in the coming weeks regarding their solution to the current coaching shortage in Canada.
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The multiple world champion and Olympic medallist Viktor Ahn will coach China's national team for the 2022 Olympic Games. By Jackob Savard
Photo: Tony Chung - SHORTTRACKHD After turning down offers from the two countries where he skated, South Korea and Russia, it is finally in China that world champion Viktor Ahn will act as coach. The Korean-born skater is currently in isolation in China and is preparing to sign the official contract which would include a remuneration approaching 300,000 Euros per year. There is no doubt that China is ready to go all out to see its skaters perform at the Beijing Games. Ahn and the Chinese National team were secretlynegotiating since his retirement in April.
Viktor Ahn is by far the most prolific short track skater in history. He collected six Olympic gold medals and eight world champion titles during his career. He retired for good in April.
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In an unexpected turn of events, the Hungarian team in short track speed skating just lost its head coach halfway through the World cup season.
By Carl Savard
Photo by Tony Chung
Zhang Jing who represented China at the 1994 Olympics, has been a key factor why the Hungarian program in short track speed skating has grown so fast in the last few years. Her first contact with the actual Hungarian skaters goes back to her coaching days in China. In 2007 she trained two young and unknown Hungarian skaters who had traveled to their father's home country to become better athletes: Liu Shaolin Sandor and Liu Shaoang. It’s in 2012 that she went to Hungary as an advisor and eventually became the head coach of the team. Since then, Hungary has become a force to be reckoned with in the sport of short track.
It’s through her social media that Zhang Jing, better known as Lina, shared her decision to quit the team. A negative post by skater Burjan Csaba, concerning the waiting time at the airport customs in China using the “F-Word” to complain about his coach’s native country, shocked the coach enough to present her resignation to the Hungarian team. CGTN reports that Zhang shared on the web that she “was astounded and outraged by the racist comments against China made publicly by Hungarian short track speed skater Burjan Csaba.” She added to her statement: “I can't tolerate a Hungarian skater, especially a Hungarian Olympic champion, making racist comments against China. And for the record, I resigned as the Hungarian short track speed skating team's head coach.”
We will give you more info as they become available
UPDATE: December 4th 2019: Hungarian skaterBurjan Csaba apologized for his actions on social media posting: "Deeply sorry for yesterday's post. Was tired after long trip didn't mean it. Hope everybody understands. Sorry again." Asian media reports that the Hungarian federation didn't accept Lina Zhang Jing's resignation and is in talk with the coach at this moment to settle the situation. Burjan Csaba has apologized to his coach. He will not skate the 4th leg of the World cup season this weekend and the federation is evaluating what further disciplinary actions will be taken in regards to the situation.
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C’est à titre d’entraîneur que le Français Thibaut Fauconnet a décidé de poursuivre sa carrière. Bien qu'étant l’un des patineurs les plus âgés encore actifs l’an dernier sur le circuit international en patinage de vitesse courte piste, son attitude positive lui aura permis de passer à travers des moments plus difficiles il y a quelques années et d’offrir de solides performances en tombée de rideau au cours des dernières saisons. À 34 ans, Fauconnet saisit une occasion de rester coller à son sport tout en quittant le tracé de 111m.
Le Français a confié au journal L’Équipe qu’il avait signé un contrat valide jusqu'aux Jeux olympiques de 2022 en Chine et qu’il secondera l’entraîneuse-chef actuelle de l’équipe américaine Wilma Boomstra. Pour en apprendre plus sur la carrière de Thibaut Fauconnet, prenez un instant pour relire le portrait que nous avons publié l’an dernier. Thibaut Fauconnet: Besoin d’air frais
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Thibaut Fauconnet just announced that he will be joining the American team as a coach for the upcoming season. Alongside Charles Hamelin, Thibaut Fauconnet was one of the oldest skater still active on the international scene in short track speed skating. His positive attitude allowed him to go through some major bumps during is career and was still battling with the bests in the world on 1000m and 1500m in the last two seasons despite his age. At 34, the Frenchman seizes an opportunity to stay close to his sport without having to fight on the 111m track.
Fauconnet told L’Équipe that he has signed a contract to be second to USA’s head coach Wilma Boomstra until at least the 2022 Winter Olympics that will be held in China.
By Carl Savard Photo by Martin Holtom The news just started spinning on the web. After one season as head coach of the men’s national team in short track speed skating, Eric Bédard has been fired by Speed Skating Canada. The Canadian federation confirmed the news but no detail has surfaced for now.
We’ll keep you informed UPDATE 16h45 Press release from Speed Skating Canada
Canadian Short Track Coaching Staff Reorganized
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Earlier today, Speed Skating Canada (SSC) announced a restructuring of coaching staff within its Short Track High Performance program. As a result, leading into the 2019-20 competition season, Éric Bédard will no longer helm the Canadian men’s National Team.
SSC is currently recruiting for the position of Head Coach within the Short Track program. Once this role is filled, the successful candidate and SSC staff will work to confirm the coaching structure going forward to the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. An interim transition plan is being developed with the current coaching staff and will be communicated shortly.
Australian Ice Racing (AIR) is happy to announce that a new coach has been appointed as National high performance coach in short track speed skating and it’s none other than Richard Nizielski.
It’s by press release that AIR and its President Frank Anderson shared the news during the weekend.
September 1st 2018
Australian Ice Racing President Frank Anderson used the occasion of the organisations’ Annual General Meeting to announce the appointment of their new national coach, Richard Nizielski.
Nizielski was a part of the historic World Champion 5000m relay team of 1991, and was the anchor for the Australian team in the 5000m relay in Lillehammer in 1994, winning Australia’s first ever Olympic medal (bronze).
Richard retired from skating after the 1998 Nagano Games and travelled a variety of paths after his skating life, including acting and becoming a Kung Fu Master. He later decided to undertake extensive study in the sports science field, and went on further completing his honours with first class distinctions.
In 2009, he led Project 10 for Australia, a project to put Australia’s first ever female relay team into he 2009/2010 World Cup season to qualify but the team narrowly missed their own qualification by less than a half a second.
Anderson said “Richard was not the natural or obvious choice when selecting a coach, however during the selection phase of speaking with other interested coaches, he came onto the radar in what can only be described as a lucky break for us. Like many countries, we have suffered a substantial loss in funding towards a dedicated short track program, and we had to work within a very tight budget to employ a coach. Richard, being very patriotic, came on board not for the money, but for the pride and drive to build success for Australia. He is a very smart guy with a lot of skating knowledge, and he has built an amazing reputation in the golfing world as a strength and condition coach, taking Korean golfers to the top of the international podium. We are hoping he can do the same with our short track program.
“We maintain a strong relationship with our program partner, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, but for the first time in over 16-years, they have devolved the program back to Australian Ice Racing to be the absolute program controller. We feel this will allow for better governance to control and demand positive behaviours that lead to success within a team that will also support individual results. Richard will be the driver to change our team culture. That is the only KPI given to Richard for the 2018/2019 season? – Build a strong team culture. We expect that Year 2 will be the year to see results for Australia.”
Richard will start his official appointment from the 24th September and will head a development camp in Melbourne from the 30th September to the 4th October 2018, with the official AIR program commencing in Melbourne the following week.
AIR released this video to announce the news:
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Les instances Australiennes en charge de gérer les activités reliées au patinage de vitesse étaient fières d’annoncer le weekend dernier qu’un nouvel entraîneur venait d’être nommé au poste d’Entraîneur haute performance en courte piste. C’est le médaillé olympique et champion du monde au relais Richard Nizielski qui obtient le poste.
Publication: Carl Savard Photos:Oscar van den Bosch et Australian Ice Racing (AIR)
C’est par communiqué de presse que le président de l’Australian Ice Racing (AIR) en a fait l’annonce samedi dernier.
1er septembre 2018 Le président de l’Australian Ice Racing Frank Anderson a profité de l’assemblée générale annuelle de l’organisme pour annoncer que le nouvel entraîneur chef de l’équipe nationale courte piste serait Richard Nizielski.
Nizielski a été membre de l’équipe australienne historique qui a été couronnée championne du monde en 1991 au relais en plus d’être un rouage important de l’équipe qui a remporté la médaille de bronze également au relais 5000m aux Jeux de Lillehammer en 1994. Cette médaille était la première médaille de l’histoire pour l’Australie aux Jeux d'hiver. Richard Nizielski a pris sa retraite du courte piste après les Jeux de Nagano en 1998, empruntant différents chemins de vie incluant le métier d’acteur et celui de maître en kung-fu. Il a par la suite pris la décision de débuter des études intensives en science du sport et a complété ses études avec mention et reconnaissance. En 2009, il a mené le “Projet 10 pour l’Australie”, un projet mis en place pour qualifier la première équipe féminine de relais en vue de la saison de Coupe du monde 2009/10. L’équipe a malheureusement raté sa qualification par quelques dixièmes de seconde.
Anderson avoue que «Richard n’était peut être pas un choix évident avant de débuter le processus de sélection, mais après avoir débuté les rencontres avec les différents candidats, il a été une révélation pour nous. Comme dans d’autres pays, le financement a été réduit et nous avions un budget très strict à respecter pour l’embauche du nouvel entraîneur. Richard étant très attaché à sa patrie, il a décidé de relever le défi, sans focaliser sur l’argent mais bien sur son désir d’aider nos patineurs nationaux à obtenir du succès. C’est un homme intelligent, possédant de grandes connaissances au niveau du patinage. Il est reconnue en tant que préparateur physique, entre autres dans le monde du golf, ayant aidé des golfeurs coréens à monter sur des podiums internationaux. Nous avons espoir qu'il saura faire de même avec notre programme en courte piste.» «Nous maintenons de solides relations avec nos partenaires de L'Institut australien des Olympiques d’Hiver, mais pour la première fois en 16 ans, ils nous laissent le champ libre pour gérer entièrement le programme. Nous sommes convaincus que ce changement permettra un meilleur contrôle du programme et nous donnera la possibilité d’instaurer une philosophie d’équipe gagnante tout en supportant les résultats individuels. Richard sera aux commandes pour changer la culture de notre sport en Australie. Notre seule demande spécifique formulée à Richard pour la saison 2018/19? Bâtir un fort sentiment d’appartenance à l’équipe qui permettra à l’Australie d’obtenir des résultats dès la saison suivante.» Le mandat de Richard Nizielski débute le 24 septembre prochain et il dirigera un camp de développement à Melbourne du 30 septembre au 4 octobre 2018. Le programme national renouvelé prendra son envol à Melbourne la semaine suivante. L’organisme a publié une vidéo (en anglais) pour présenter Nizielski:
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Speed Skating Canada announced today in a press release that experienced Dutch trainer Geert Kuiper is joining the existing Canadian coaching staff in long track speed skating as a technical advisor. Here is the press release in its entirety. Calgary, August 10, 2018 – World-renowned long track speed skating coach Geert Kuiper from the Netherlands will join the Canadian program as Technical Coach Advisor, starting August 13, 2018.
Kuiper has led his skaters to six Olympic gold medals (Gerard van Velde in the 1000m in 2002; Sven Kramer in the 5000m in 2010 and 2014; and Ireen Wüst in the 1500m in 2010, and in the 1500m and the 3000m in 2014). At the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Kuiper was head coach for the Dutch men and women’s team pursuit and mass start, which brought home four medals (women’s silver and men’s bronze in the team pursuit, and two bronze in the mass start).
Kuiper has been contracted by Speed Skating Canada to work under Long Track High Performance Director Cara Thibault and with the other National Team coaches and the Integrated Support Team to develop Canada’s National Team athletes. He will play a leadership and advisory role in coaching, monitoring and evaluating athletes and training plans, with the goal of leading Canada to podium performances in international competition.
“I am honoured to have been approached for this position by Speed Skating Canada”, said Kuiper. “There is a strong foundation for high performance sport in Canada and I think this is the right place for me and the right time to share my experience with an enthusiastic and talented group of skaters and coaches. I have been to Canada several times and was attracted by its beautiful landscapes and its people. I’m looking forward to working as a Technical Coach Advisor and will give my very best to help Canadian speed skating achieve short and long-term success.”
Kuiper started coaching in 1997 following a speed skating career in which he won three silver and one gold medal in the Dutch Championship sprint events.
Since 1997, Kuiper has worked as a coach for the Dutch speed skating team Sanex (1997-2000), head coach and member of the technical staff of its sprint team (2000-2005), and team coordinator and assistant coach for team TVM (2006-2014). From 2014 to 2018, he was head coach of the Dutch national speed skating team in the mass start and team pursuit events. He holds a level 5 technical coaching license in long track from the Royal Dutch Skating Federation.
“It’s a privilege to have such an experienced coach as Geert Kuiper come to Canada to share his knowledge and expertise enhancing our Long Track Program to reach its goals in Beijing 2022.”, said Speed Skating Canada’s Chief Sport Officer, Shawn Holman. “Building a World class program takes World class people and we are confident Geert will have a significant impact on our High Performance Program, but also system development as we strengthen our athlete pathway for our NextGen 2026 athletes”.
Among other duties, Kuiper will act as a mentor for other coaches, support the development of athlete training, selection criteria and protocols, and support the development, implementation and evaluation of annual and long-term training plans. He will lead coaching teams and provide advice to develop high performance athletes and coaches at the National Training Centres in Calgary and Quebec City, and across the country. He will also play a role in the continued development of Speed Skating Canada’s Long-Term Participant Athlete Development (LTPAD) resources. Don't forget to follow our Facebook page, our Instagram account and our Twitter account for daily news and results about speed skating.
Éric Bédard is the new men's national short track team coach. Text by Jackob Savard Photo: Nagano Skates' instagram account The Nagano, Salt Lake City and Torino olympian and quadruple olympic medalist Éric Bédard is the one that will replace Derrick Campbell as coach of the men's national team. As a coach, he worked for the German national team before joining the Italian team. He also worked as a coach for France’s national team before coming back to Canada to work with the next generation of champions training at the Olympic oval in Calgary. ''A new person, a new personality, but the same philosophy: win and put the guys on the podiums. We want to continue this winning tradition'' said Bédard.
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