Silver Saturday for De Haitre and Bloemen at long track World Cup Final
Long track speed skaters Vincent De Haitre and Ted-Jan Bloemen each won a silver medal on Saturday at the World Cup Final in Stavanger, Norway.
De Haitre placed second in the 1000m in a time of 1 minute 9.28 seconds, finishing half a second back of Dutchman Kjeld Nuis (1:08.76). German Nico Ihle (1:09.42) placed third.
Canada’s Vincent De Haitre skates during the second men’s 500-metre competition at the ISU world sprint speedskating championships in Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
With his second podium finish on the circuit, De Haitre ends the season ranked second overall to Nuis in the World Cup 1000m standings. Back in December, De Haitre earned his first career individual World Cup victory in the 1000m in Astana, Kazakhstan. In February he also finished second to Nuis at the World Single Distances Championships, claiming his first world medal on what will be Olympic ice at the Gangneung Oval next year.
Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen celebrates after his men’s 5000 meters race of the Speed Skating World Cup in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Like De Haitre, Bloemen was skating in the second last pairing and laid down the time to beat in the 5000m of 6 minutes 18.46 seconds. But then he watched as Jorrit Bergsma (6:17.74) edged him by about three-quarters of a second. Another Dutchman, Erik Jan Kooiman (6:19.07) placed third.
For Bloemen, the second place finish was his third podium of the season in the 5000m, including a victory in Berlin in January. He also finished third in the only 10,000m World Cup race of the season to help him finish second in the overall World Cup standings for the longest distances.
The World Cup Final is the last competition on the long track calendar. It concludes on Sunday.
