Canada took both available men's titles on the opening day of the fourth ISU Four Continents Championships in Salt Lake City on Friday.
Connor Howe (CAN) was the fastest man in the 1500m, stopping the clock at 1:43.19, while Laurent Dubreuil, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu and last-minute substitute skater Yankun Zhao (CAN) took home Team Sprint gold in 1:18.54.
Connor Howe won gold — and a confident boost — at the Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Confidence boost for Canadian
Howe placed second in last year’s 1500m rankings, but he hadn’t quite found his mojo yet this year, ranked 15th after the first four World Cup events. Winning gold at the Four Continents Championships may be the boost he needed.
“I feel like I'm getting back to my good form. I was missing a bit this fall, but had a good block of training and I'm feeling better again."
The 24-year-old Canadian had never skated the Four Continents Championships before.
“It’s kind of the first time that it all worked out with the travel plan before the World Cups. The Four Continent Championships feel a bit less stressful, it's just a smaller competition.”
Emery Lehman (USA) was second in 1:44.03, earning his second Four Continents medal after 5000m bronze in 2019/20.
Emery Lehman picked up his second Four Continents Speed Skating Championships medal in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
“It’s tough because we had trials a couple of weeks ago, and the World Cup next weekend," Lehman said.
"So it’s always nice to skate really well, but (there’s) a lot of races coming out and a lot of races we had, so I’m happy that it’s my fastest race of the year. It was one of my fastest openers, that was nice. I was trying to do the first 700m faster. If I can put together the first half of this race, with the back half of other races I’ve had this year, I can skate really well at World Cup 5.”
The 1500m bronze went to Ryota Kojima (JPN), who set 1:44.40 as the time to beat after starting alone in the first pairing.
“it’s always difficult to race alone, but I managed to set a good time. It’s great to get a medal, but my best event is the 1000m on Sunday.”
Ryota Kojima is looking for another medal in the 1000m race at the Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
In the 1000m, Kojima will face World Champion Jordan Stolz (USA), who decided not to skate the 1500m to save energy with next week’s World Cup in the back of his mind.
Late substitute works out
Canada won the Team Sprint in 1:18.54, a solid 3.17 seconds ahead of runners-up Kazakhstan (Artur Galiyev, Nikita Vazhenin, Altay Zhardembekuly), who took advantage of the USA being disqualified after Cooper McLeod (USA) crashed out of the race.
Kazakhstan finished behind Canada in the Team Sprint at the Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Korea’s Kim Taeyun, Cho Sanghyeok and Yang Ho-Jun (KOR) took bronze in 1:22.01.
Korea won Team Sprint bronze at the Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
For Canada, it was the fourth Team Sprint title in four Four Continents Championships, but this one was probably the most difficult of them all. Just an hour before the race, first skater Anders Johnson had to pull out with a back injury.
Nineteen-year old Zhao took his place.
“I got off the ice (after training in the afternoon), and I was fully planning on going back to the hotel and getting rested for my main event, which is the 500 (on Saturday), when Anders hurt his back. As he was getting treatment, I was told there was a chance that I had to fill in. It's my first international competition and I thought it's a really good way to get experience."
Yankun Zhao (center) was a surprise starter for Canada at the Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
Zhao launched teammates Dubreuil and Gélinas-Beaulieu well, but the USA was still within striking distance when the teams headed into the second lap. McLeod crashed in the first corner of that lap, almost taking down teammate Zach Stoppelmoor, too. Stoppelmoor managed to stay on his feet and finish the race in 1:21.16.
“I just wanted to make sure I finish the race and then see what happens afterwards,” Stoppelmoor said.
Unfortunately for him, the crash meant the Americans had not executed a regular change-up. They would have finished second had they not been disqualified.
Team USA was disqualified in the Team Sprint final at the Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, USA © ISU
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