Davide Ghiotto (ITA) feels very much at home on the ice of the Calgary Olympic Oval. After taking his career first World Cup silver medal in the 5000m last year and a bronze in the same event here last week, he celebrated his first World Cup win in the 10,000m on the Canadian track in the fourth leg of this season’s ISU World Cup series.
Patrick Roest (NED) had started as the favorite to win the 10,000m, but his pair-mate Ghiotto had other plans. The Italian took the initiative against the Dutch World Cup leader and didn’t let up.
Davide Ghiotto (ITA) kept up with 10,000m favourite Patrick Roest (NED) before pushing on to take gold. ©ISU
“I raced with Patrick. It was very, very hard,” Ghiotto admitted.
“I tried to stay with him for many laps, and then I tried to skate in the time for my personal best [12:45.98]. I could skate 30.3 and 30.2 [lap times] a long time, and on the TV screen in the stadium I could see that Patrick was behind me. So I just tried to push through.”
With a time of 12 minutes and 45.10s, Ghiotto beat Roest by 6.40s to win his career first World Cup gold and climb to second place in the World Cup ranking. Although the 10,000m features on the World Cup program just once this season and the 5000m five times, Ghiotto prefers the double distance.
“The 5000m is not my best race. I need to improve my technique and speed during the race. The 10,000m is my better distance because I can skate hard in the corners and relax on the straights.”
The race gave him a boost heading into the second half of the season. He’s looking forward to the World Championships, although that’s still a long way off.
“That’s March, there’s still many, many months to train. I will try to improve my 10,000m. I hope for fast ice, and I’ll try to set another PB and we’ll see where it gets me.”
Roest was not too worried about losing to Ghiotto, because he had an explanation.
“The 10,000m is different than the 5000m, and we had a full training program last week. I knew that skating for victory would be difficult today.
Patrick Roest (NED) came into the long-distance race on the back of a full training program and knew victory would be elusive. ©ISU
“It did not bother me too much to trail behind Ghiotto [during the race]. I trailed behind Jorrit Bergsma (NED) at the Dutch trials and managed to reel him in. I tried to do the same today, but I couldn’t bring the lap times down after the first 5000m.
“Of course I’d rather have won, but I needed training volume in the lead-up to the Dutch Championships (December) and the European Championships (January).”
Youngster Snellink happy with bronze
Behind Ghiotto and Roest, Beau Snellink (NED) took bronze in a personal best of 12:53.34. The Dutch youngster was happy to be in the mix for medals at the World Cup.
Beau Snellink (NED), right, took 10,000m bronze in a personal best time and is looking ahead to the World Championships. ©ISU
“The World Cup is fun and I just want to take along some medals. I wasn’t aware that I was capable of that, but apparently I am. Now I just have to stay good and prepare for the World Championships, although I first have to qualify, which is going to be difficult enough with the high level in the Netherlands.”
Dubreuil targets two World Cup titles despite Kim gold
Earlier on Saturday, Kim Jun-Ho (KOR) won his first 500m gold of the season, but Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) retained his lead in the ranking with a solid race for bronze, while 18-year-old Jordan Stolz (USA) surprised with 500m silver.
Kim Jun-Ho (KOR), centre, took 500m gold with Jordan Stolz (USA) in silver and rankings leader Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) in bronze. ©ISU
After coming third in 34.19s last week, Kim skated a personal best of 34.07s this time out. Stolz also skated a personal best in 34.08s, but Dubreuil was not able to match last week’s 34.01 and finished 0.33s off his personal best in 34.10s.
“It’s not a bad race,” Dubreuil said. “The execution was good, it's just physically. I felt very, very tired this week. So it's actually much better than I thought I was going to do on Tuesday or Wednesday, when I had to really cut down on the training program to try to rest as much as possible.”
Dubreuil is aiming for a second consecutive World Cup title after winning the 500m ranking last year, but he’s also set his sights on the 1000m, which is skated on Sunday.
“One of the big the big goals of this season for me was to win the overall again, and to win the overall in the 1000m as well, which I've never done,” he said.
“I'm on track to do it, we'll see about tomorrow [1000m]. I feel tired, but we'll see what I have left. I bet a lot of guys feel tired as well.
Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) is targeting both the 500m and 1000m World Cup titles this season. ©ISU
“It's been a really, really good start to the season. We're halfway through the season already, and this is where I want to be and I think with the rest of the training I can be even better.”
‘Kim gets better every year’
Dubreuil spoke highly of his opponents, comparing Kim to his former self.
“I'm happy for him. He's one of the guys who has been working hard at it for a number of years. I see a bit of myself in him, how I got better over the years. He’s been getting a bit better almost every season and who has done that five, six years in a row, then you get really, really good.
Kim Jun-Ho (KOR) overcame a stumbling start to take 500m gold in a personal best time. ©ISU
“He's got a really good start, and today, he kind of stumbled in the first few steps and it looked like he was not going to move fast, but then he had a 9.46s [opener].
“Sometimes you know, when you have a little stumble like that, it's just because your forward lean at the start was so good, that you toe in a little bit, but if you can recover, then the first few strides are still really, really good.
‘Stolz the best in 40 years’
This season’s 500m and 1000m World Cup titles may well be Dubreuil’s last. At least, that’s what the Canadian sprinter fears for himself given the rising talent coming through. Speaking of Stolz, he said:
“He's much more talented than me, so I think it's just a matter of time.
“To win medals in the 500m and the 1500m in the same weekend, and he's the favorite for tomorrow [in the 1000m] too. It's something that only a very few skaters have done in their absolute prime and he's doing it at 18 years old.
“I think it's just absolutely incredible. It's very exciting for speed skating to see somebody that good. I think he's the most talented skater of the last 40-45 years, since I've never seen anything like that. So I'm just going to try to win as many races as possible until he gets too strong.”
Dubreuil (CAN) believes Jordan Stolz (USA) is the most talented skater of the last 40 years. ©ISU
Stolz himself was happy with his personal best, confident about his racing and modest.
“I think it was close enough to perfect,” the 18-year-old American said about his 500m race.
“I was really feeling good this week after all the rest. So I think that definitely played a role going into this.
“I don't want to say I expected this, but yes, I knew it would be a good one. I didn't have an expectation of how fast it would be, but I knew would be better than last week.”
Looking forward to Sunday’s 1000m, Stolz said: “If I'm feeling like today, I think it should be good. If the technique in the race goes fine, I think it'd be good.”
Bloemen wins B Division in track record
Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) had to skate in the B Division after a disqualification due to two false starts in the 5000m last week. He made amends, posting the fastest 10,000m time of the day and beating his own 2021 track record by almost eight seconds in 12:33.75.
“I had to set something straight after not being able to show it last week,” he said. “I've been feeling really strong. I had a really good summer, I felt that the road I chose has been working out really well.
Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) put the disappointment of last week's 5000m disqualification behind him to post the fastest 10,000m time of the day. ©ISU
“After becoming a dad for the second time, I was really excited to get back into racing and to show up at the World Cup and then last week happened and I didn't get to show it.
“This week, everything had to be perfect. I was so determined to show everything I had.”
Program
The men’s competition concludes with the 1000m and the Mass Start on Sunday. The ISU World Cup series resumes with the fifth leg on 10-12 February 2023 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.
For all information about the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, please visit the webpage here.
World Cup Standings - Men
World Cup Standings - Women
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions (local time) via their national broadcaster/channel.
For countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to watch webpage here.
ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2022/23:
Nov 11 - 13, 2022 Stavanger /NOR
Nov 18 - 20, 2022 Heerenveen/ NED
Dec 09 - 11, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Dec 16 - 18, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Feb 10 - 12, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Feb 17 - 19, 2023 World Cup Final - Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
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