Vincent De Haître in the 1000m & Ted-Jan Bloemen in the 5000m won silver & finished second in the overall at the ISU World Cup speed skating final
Stavanger, Norway, March 11, 2017 – Vincent De Haître won the silver medal in the 1000m and clinched the second spot overall in the World Cup standings after the final race of the season, as did Ted-Jan Bloemen in the 5000m, Saturday, at the ISU World Cup Final in Stavanger, Norway.
In the 1000m, Vincent De Haître of Cumberland, ON, won the silver medal in the 1000m with a time of 1:09.28 and solidified his second place overall in the World Cup rankings with 440 points.
De Haître had a busy day, Saturday, also taking part in the team pursuit with Bloemen and Jordan Belchos from Toronto, ON, who took the 5th spot. Sunday, De Haître will also skate in the 1500m and in the team sprint.
“The 1000m was the target for this weekend”, said De Haître, who broke the 1000m national record two weeks ago, at the World Sprint Championships hosted in Calgary.
“It’s a big challenge to do the team pursuit along with my usual races and I wanted to be up for it,” he added. “Unfortunately, I was the weaker skater today, but I’m happy with it and with the way we performed as team. It was hard work. With less than one hour rest before the 1000m, I was a little worried with my ability to skate fast, but I put my mind on cruise control. I went into the race with a relaxed and positive mindset and proved my resilience as an athlete.”
With a breakout season that included a World Cup gold and a silver at the 2017 World Single Distance Championships, De Haître vastly improved his World Cup overall standing from ninth last season.
Saturday, De Haître was second to Kjeld Nuis (1:08.76) of the Netherlands who also took the World Champion title (550 points), and bronze was Nico Ihle (1:09.42) of Germany. Third place in the overall rankings (398) went to Kai Verbij of the Netherlands, who finished 11th in Saturday’s race. Laurent Dubreuil of Lévis, QC placed ninth (1:09.81) and ranked 15th overall.
Second spot for Ted-Jan Bloemen
Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, AB, also won the silver medal (4:18.46), this time in the 5000m event. After the fifth World Cup, Bloemen was ranked third overall, but with his silver, he bumped himself up to second in the overall standings with 413 points.
“That was definitely finishing the season on a high”, said Ted-Jan Bloemen who, last season, was fourth in the overall ranking. “I’m really happy with that race. I had to prove something to myself after World Championships and not being on the podium there. Today, I just did a really solid race, flat lap times and good discipline. Maybe I went a little too late in the end. As the last two laps were very fast, you would think there was a little more time in there if I went earlier, but I’m really happy with a silver medal and a second place overall. I got a really cool plate!”
First place (6:17.74) and World Champion title (480 points) went to Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, bronze was won by Erik Jan Kooiman (6:19.07), also of the Netherlands, but third in the overall World Cup ranking was awarded to Peter Michael (338) of New Zealand.
Four top ten finishes for Canada
Marsha Hudey of White City, SK, finished fifth (38.39) in the first of two 500m events this weekend. She maintains her fifth place position in the overall standings after the first event, only 65 points from third spot.
Noa Kodaira (37.14) of Japan was first, Karolina Erbanova (37.87) of Kazakhstan was second and third place was Heather Bergsma (38.13) of the United States. Kodaira is first in the overall standings with Maki Tsuji of Japan in second and Jing Yu of China in third.
“It was an average race, nothing spectacular. Some good things and some things that I could improve on which I will do in my race tomorrow. It’s fun to be here and fun to be racing in the last World Cup of the season,” says Hudey.
Laurent Dubreuil also took part in the 500m and in the 1000m where he placed eleventh (35.21) and ninth (1:09.81) respectively.
“It was a good race. Only part I would like to do better was the start”, explains Dubreuil about his 1000m. “Aside from that, the execution was really good and my lap was faster than in the 500m. I was ninth, but it was the closest I’ve ever been to the podium, just four tenths away. That’s very positive and, going into next year, I’m hoping to get a podium in the 1000m”, added Dubreuil who’s testing new blades this weekend.”
In the 3000m, Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, ON, placed sixth (4:07.85) after her fourth place result at the World Single Distance Championships in February. This race improved her overall World Cup ranking one spot from ninth to eighth.
The men’s Team Pursuit was raced by Ted-Jan Bloemen, Jordan Belchos of Toronto, ON, and Vincent De Haître and finished fifth. The team maintained their fifth spot in the overall rankings. The Dutch took the top place in the overall with Norway in second and Japan in third.
Races continue Sunday with the last day of competition and conclusion of the World Cup season beginning with the second 500m, the 1500m, the Team Sprint and the Mass Start for both men and women.
Today’s Canadian results
1000m M
SILVER: Vincent De Haître (1:09,28)
Final ranking: 2
9. Laurent Dubreuil (1:09,81)
Final ranking: 15
3000m M
SILVER: Ted-Jan Bloemen (6:18,46)
Final ranking: 2
500m (1) W
5. Marsha Hudey (38,39)
3000m W
6. Ivanie Blondin (4:07,85)
Final ranking: 8
500m (1) M
11. Laurent Dubreuil (35,214)
Team Pursuit M
5. Canada (4:48,51)
(Jordan Belchos, Ted-Jan Bloemen, Vincent De Haître)
Final ranking: 5
More details are available at Speed Skating Canada's web site at www.speedskating.ca.
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