Canada's Laurent Dubreuil skate to victory in the men's 500-metre competition at the ISU World Cup speed skating event in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que., won the men’s 500 metres and Canada also claimed gold in women’s team pursuit Saturday at a speedskating World Cup in Calgary.
Dubreuil crossed the line in 34.017 seconds, ahead of runner-up Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan in 34.181 at the Olympic Oval.
Jun-Ho Kim of South Korea was third in 34.198.
Dubreuil’s victory was his second straight on the World Cup circuit.
He claimed the overall 500-metre crown last season and tops the standings after three races.
Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais of La Baie, Que., are the reigning Olympic champions in women’s team pursuit.
The trio earned their second World Cup victory in as many races to start this season in a time of 2:54.492.
Runner-up Japan was 3.18 seconds behind and the United States finished third 3.46 seconds back of Canada.
Japan’s Miho Tagaki took the women’s 1,500 metres for her second victory in three races.
Nadezhda Morozova of Kazakhstan was second and Antoinette Rijpma – de Jong of the Netherlands third.
Patrick Roest won the men’s 5,000 metres with Dutch teammate Beau Snellink second and Italy’s Davide Ghiotto third.
The first of two straight speedskating World Cups in Calgary concludes Sunday with the men’s and women’s mass starts and 1,000 metres.
Another three days of racing resumes Friday at the oval.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2022.
