Joy Beune, left to right, Irene Schouten, and Marijke Groenewoud race to first place skates during the women's team pursuit event at the ISU World speedskating Championships in Calgary, Alta., Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – Jordan Stolz of the United States defended his world title in the 500 metres at the world speedskating championships and Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil took silver a second straight year.
Stolz, 19, posted a track-record time of 33.69 seconds at Calgary’s Olympic Oval on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Dubreuil of Levis, Que., was second in 33.95. Poland’s Damian Zurek was third in 34.11.
Canada claimed silver and bronze medals in team pursuit. Italy won men’s gold ahead of Norway and Canada, while the Dutch beat Canada to reclaim the women’s world title.
The Dutch women were the fastest in last year’s world championship, but were disqualified because of an equipment violation. The gold went to Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., but the reigning Olympic champions weren’t able to match the Dutch speed this year.
In team pursuit, two teams of three skaters begin simultaneously on opposite sides of the oval and race the clock over six laps for women and eight laps for men.
Joy Beune, Irene Schouten and Marijke Groenewoud laid down a track-record time of two minutes 51.20 seconds in the opening heat. The Canadian women finished 2.83 seconds back for silver.
The Japanese women were in silver-medal position until their bell lap. They couldn’t hold their pace and dropped to third.
Connor Howe of Canmore, Alta., Toronto’s Hayden Mayeur and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke, Que., posted a time of 3:36.72 in the first of four men’s pairings that held up until Italy and Norway in the closer.
Andrea Giovannini, Davide Ghiotto and Michele Malfatti set a track record to win in 3:35. Norway took silver in 3:36.07.
Dutchwoman Femke Kok defended her world title in the women’s 500 metres in a time of 36.83 seconds. Min-Sun Kim of South Korea was second in 37.19 ahead of bronze medallist Kim Goetz of the U.S. 37.21.
The International Skating Union’s world single distance championship continues Saturday with men’s and women’s mass starts and 1,000 metres.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2024.
