Bergsma et Mantia au top des sélections américaines

Les essais américains pour les Coupes du monde en longue piste se déroulaient cette fin de semaine à Salt Lake City.

Par Jackob Savard Photo de Schaats Foto's

Joey Mantia et Heather Bergsma ont remporté le premier départ groupé lors de la journée de mercredi. Bergsma a continué sa domination sur 500m alors que c’est Mitchell Withmore qui s’est imposé du côté masculin. Emery Lehman gagne le 5000m devant l'infatigable Kc Boutiette. Mia Manganello triomphe au 3000m.

La journée de samedi a été la journée d’Emery Lehman qui a remporté le 10 000m et terminé troisième au 1500m. Carlijn Schoutens remporte le 5000m féminin. Joey Mantia et Heather Bergsma terminent au premier rang sur 1500m et 1000m et gagnent également le deuxième départ en groupe pour conclure les sélections.

Podiums de toutes les distances

Jour 1

Départ en groupe #1 féminin

1. Heather Bergsma

2. Mia Manganello

3. Erin Bartlett

Départ en groupe #1 masculin

1. Joey Mantia

2. Ian Quinn

3. Brian Hansen

Jour 2

500m (1) féminin

1. Heather Bergsma 37.88

2. Sugar Todd 38.40

3. Brittany Bowe 38.43

500m (2) féminin

1. Heather Bergsma 37.88

2. Brittany Bowe 38.06

3. Sugar Todd 38.41

500m (1) masculin

1. Mitch Whitmore 35.04

2. Jonathan Garcia 35.19

3. Kimani Griffin 35.24

500m (2) masculin

1. Mitch Whitmore 34.75

2. Jonathan Garcia 34.89

3. Kimani Griffin 35.31

3000m féminin

1. Mia Manganello 4:07.27

2. Carlijn Schoutens 4:09.15

3. Petra Acker 4:12.78

5000m masculin

1. Emery Lehman 6:28.31

2. KC Boutiette 6:33.99

3. Ian Quinn 6:37.13

Jour 3

1500m féminin

1. Heather Bergsma 1:54.70

2. Brittany Bowe 1:56.51

3. Mia Manganello 1:58.38

1500m masculin

1. Joey Mantia 1:44.15

2. Brian Hansen 1:45.36

3. Emery Lehman 1:46.22

5000m féminin

1. Carlijn Schoutens 7:06.94

2. Petra Acker 7:18.44

3. Maria Lamb 7:22.34

10000m masculin

1. Emery Lehman 13:40.44

2. Theron Sands 14.13.13

3. Chase Reichmann 14:32.16

Jour 4

1000m féminin

1. Heather Bergsma 1:13.91

2. Brittany Bowe 1:13.94

3. Sugar Todd 1:17.25

1000m masculin

1. Joey Mantia 1:08.00

2. Jonathan Garcia 1:08.27

3. Brian Hansen 1:08.86

Départ en groupe #2 féminin

1. Heather Bergsma

2. Mia Manganello

3. Corinne Stoddard

Départ en groupe #2 masculin

1. Joey Mantia

2. Jeffrey Swider-Peltz

3. Chase Reichmann

Résultats complets ICI

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Results from the Fall Classic in Calgary

Text: Carl Savard

Photo: Arno Hoogveld

With the kids back in school and the leaves changing colors, it is time for a new speed skating season and the Olympic oval in Calgary was host to the 2017 Fall Classic speed skating competition. Skaters from all over the world were there to prepare for the upcoming World cup season or to acquire experience.

Although open competition never gets enough media coverage, the second day of the 2017 Fall classic did, thanks to Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen. On Friday, the long distance specialist born in the Netherlands but skating for Canada since 2014, brought down the 5000m Canadian record from 6:11.64 to 6:08.06! Three and half seconds faster than the old record and eleven seconds faster than second place finisher Korean skater Kim Min-Seok. Kazakh skater Dmitry Babenko finished  in third place. Bloemen almost beat the world record on 3000m the following day.

Here is a quick  run-down of this weekend’s results.

Friday, September 22, 2017

500m Men:

1-Yang Tao, China 35.13sec

2-Cha Min-Kyu, Korea 35.15sec

3-Kim Tae-Yun, Korea 35.26sec

500m Women:

1-Kim Min Sun,Korea,37.70sec  

2-Kim Hyun-Yung, Korea,37.96sec

3-Yu Jing,China, 38.25sec

1000m Men:

1-Vincent de Haître,Canada,1:08.58

2-Kim Young-Jin,Korea,1:09.38

3-Denny Morrisson,Canada,1:09.52

1000m Women:

1-Tian Ruining,China, 1:15.95

2-Hao Jiachen,China, 1:16.43

3-Noh Seon-Yeong,Korea, 1:17.04

5000m Men:

1-Ted-Jan Bloemen,Canada, 6:08.06  

2-Kim Min-Seok,Korea, 6:19.79

3-Dmitry Babenko,Kazakhstan, 6:20.73

5000m Women:

1-Josie Morrisson,Canada, 7:07.51  

2-Victoria Spence,Canada, 7:10.50  

3-Lauren Mcguire,Canada, 7:28.64

Saturday, September 23, 2017

500m Men:

1-Mika Poutala,Finland,34.85sec  

2-William Dutton,Canada, 34.93sec  

3-Kim Seong-Gyu,Korea, 35.47sec

500m Women:

1-Lee Sang-Hwa,Korea, 37.97sec  

2-Heather Mclean,Canada, 38.14sec  

3-Yu Jing,China, 38.34sec

1000m Men:

1-Mo Tae-Bum,Korea, 1:08.74  

2-Mika Poutala,FInland, 1:08.98  

3-Chung Jae-Woong,Korea 1:09.15

1000m Women:

1-Yekaterina Aydova,Kazakhstan, 1:15.29  

2-Les San-Hwa,Korea, 1:15.63  

3-Kim Min Sun,Korea, 1:15.99

3000m Men:

1-Ted-Jan Bloemen,Canada, 3:37.37  

2-Denny Morrisson,Canada, 3:40.44  

3-Shani Davis,U.S.A. 3:41.43

3000m Women:

1-Isabelle Weidmann,Canada, 4:02.31  

2-Ivanie Blondin,Canada, 4:06.93  

3-Josie Morrisson,Canada, 4:07.33

Sunday, September 24, 2017

500m Men:

1-Yang Tao,China, 34.84sec  

2-Mo Tae-Bum,Korea, 34.89sec

3-Roman Krech,Kazakhstan, 34.96sec

500m Women:

1-Kim Hyun-Yung,Korea, 37.97sec  

2-Kim Min Sun,Korea, 38.02sec

3-Yekaterina Aydova,Kazakhstan, 38.83sec

1500m Men:

1-Kim Min-Seok,Korea,  1:44.61

2-Kim Cheol-Min,Korea,  1:45.97  

3-Joo Hyung-Joon, Korea,  1:46.12

1500m Women:

1-Hao Jiachen,China, 1:56.60  

2-Isabelle Weidemann,Canada, 1:57.50  

3-Noh Seon-Yeong,Korea,  1:58.20

You can browse the full results HERE

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Following an incident yesterday, François Hamelin has to withdraw from the last day of competition.

Photos: Patrick Charbonneau

Text: Carl Savard

A hard fall that ended up in the mattresses after a clash with Sasha Fathoullin in the semis of the third 1500m of the competition, forces François Hamelin to withdraw from the last day of competition of the selection process to determine who will represent Canada in the World cup circuit this fall and at the next Olympic games in Pyeongchang next winter. 

Hamelin who has been battling hard to get one of the spots available will have to wait for the selection commity to decide if he gets the discretionary ticket available for the games. 

More details to come later

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All eyes on the olympic trials

The canadian olympic selections for the 2018 games in Pyeongchang will start tomorrow at the Maurice-Richard arena.

By Jackob Savard

Photos: Tony Chung (@SHORTTRACKHD)

Both men and women will battle for five precious spots on their respective olympic teams. Some spots seem to be no brainers from the get go. The two leaders of team Canada: Marianne St-Gelais and Charles Hamelin are probably not too anxious about this competition. It would be their third and fourth Olympic Games respectively. St-Gelais finished second at the 2017 World championships and has been dominant on the World cup circuit for a couple of years. She is almost untouchable at the canadian level and only Kim Boutin was able to beat her in a race at the 2017 Canadian championships (you can watch the race here).

Hamelin had a slow start in 2016-2017 but was able to climb on some podiums in the second half. He performed well at the Canadian championships and finished third even though a disqualification in the 1500m cost him a lot of points.

Interesting battle on the ladies side

A lot of women can aspire to join the olympic team. It will be interesting to see Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Qc as she will surely be of every battle. She is one of our favourite to make the team. The experimented Valérie Maltais who took part in the Vancouver and Sochi Olympics will also be one of the main ladies to fight for one of the five spots. Kasandra Bradette, Jamie Macdonald, Namasthée Harris-Gauthier and Camille Rainville will also have a say in the competition.

Open field in the men’s competition

Charles Hamelin, Samuel Girard and Charle Cournoyer look to be in a good position to compete in Pyeongchang. Pascal Dion from Pointe-aux-Trembles had a great season in 2016-2017 and he will be fighting hard to get his spot on the olympic team. He is not afraid of challenging the veterans and his 500m final at the Canadian championships last year proves it (you can watch the race here).

It will not be a walk in the park for those four skaters has other really good athletes will be ready to fight. William Preudhomme from Ontario is one of the top guys who could surprise them. We need to take in consideration two veterans that are working really hard: François Hamelin and Guillaume Bastille. Their experience will be an advantage for the trials. It will be really interesting to see how Sasha Fathoullin will perform at those trials. Sasha, who did not compete last season, is now back in the game.  Here is an interview we did earlier this year with him concerning his break: Looking for answers: a discussion with Sasha Fathoullin.

Great races on the horizon

The Maurice-Richard arena will be the scene of some amazing races during those olympic trials. The competition will take place on the 12, 13, 16, 19 and 20 of August.

You can visit our Youtube channel or the video section of our facebook page if you want to see the finals of the 2017 Canadian championships to prepare yourself for the Olympic trials.

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Going around in circles

Text: Catherine Mailloux
Translation: Carl Savard

Photos: Tony Chung (@SHORTTRACKHD)  and Catherine Mailloux

“All you do is go around in circles”, those words came from a classmate as I was delivering a speech about the sport I love, the one I have been practicing all my life: speed skating.

This memory came back to me earlier this year during Easter holidays while I was wandering through my old neighborhood, observing all the things that have changed since I had left, soaking up the memories from the places I use to visit routinely as a kid. When I stopped in front of my old elementary school, the outside look of it was different, the daycare was rebuilt but the souvenir of this presentation I had done years ago was still vibrant. I remembered how hurtful it felt. These words : “All you do is go around in circles” were stuck in my head. At the time, I had no answer for this uncalled for and ignorant remark resonating in the classroom. After all these years, I now have one.  

Speed skating has always been part of my life, but I realise now that what I get from it is different. As a kid, it helped me develop basic skills that will serve me all my life but a big part of my passion for the sport was also linked to the relationships I built with my teammates and coaches. This is true in most sports, but I think my fellow speed skaters would agree that speed skating is a different animal. We would like to help people understand each and every aspect of our sport that is not related to going around in circles on a track marked by fourteen little black blocks. The part that is never shown by the media. Considering our sport is rarely seen on television, there would be a lot to share

For us skaters, the complexity of our sport doesn’t rely on the fact that we are going around in circles, always turning left. To be quite frank, it is the part we never think about. It is the part we learned right away. The part that we never question ourselves about. Turning left in circle is natural for our body, it’s a fact, a necessity. Our mind normally surfs the waves of everything else related to our beloved sport: coordination, strength, anticipation. We think about the details related to pushing, racing, thinking, breathing, sliding, counting and decision making. You will see us smile sometimes during races because of how satisfying it is to feel like you are mastering every aspects not related to going around in circles. We work on defying the law of gravity, to become one with it, while others chose to defy judicial laws.

«The thought occurred to me that if they were not killed by it, it meant pain doesn’t kill¹.» »

Pain is a ferocious beast that we battle daily and the more we challenge it, the more we learn to tame it, to cope with it. The irony of pain is that it can chew you up and spit you out to the point of giving up but it can also take your hand and lead you to those glorious feelings linked to success and fulfillment. For most people, working alongside pain is against nature. It requires time and hard work physically but also psychologically. The line between our physical and psychological reactions is so tin that we are always on the razor’s edge: on one side quitting out of exhaustion on the other, one more repetition, one more push, one more lap. Everytime we succeed, we realise that pain is a beast that does not kill.

If it was only the physical pain. Psychologically, the need to succeed can also be painful. In a sport where results are individual but training is done as a group, comparing yourself with others can become a burden that will undermine your capacity to enjoy your own success. Then, there is also the part where things can go wrong with our equipment, most importantly the blades. Curved at the bottom like a rocking chair and sideways to help us turn the corners, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to settings but the purpose is the same: keeping us in touch with the ice surface, as steady as possible. These adjustments of millimeter precision, allow us to stick to the ice in the classic leaning pose defying gravity at high speed in the corners. The smallest thing can change those important settings without notice: a small bump, the sharpening session, the tension of the blades. You probably won’t be surprise if I tell you that those small changes can modify our feelings on the ice and make us hesitant. Add those imponderable elements to the pressure to perform and it becomes easy to understand how fast one may feel disheartened.

In retrospect, that is the answer I would give my classmate if I could go back in time and redo that presentation. I could go on and on but in short, speed skating is a complex sport, requiring a great discipline, an unshakeable concentration level and a deep understanding of who you are. Just going around in circle is not enough.

__________________ ¹ Free translation / original quote from HARPMAN Jacqueline, Moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes, Paris, Le livre de Poche, 1995, p.82

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