CALGARY — Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish have both navigated their way back to speedskating’s sufferfest 10,000 meters.
CALGARY — Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish have both navigated their way back to speedskating’s sufferfest 10,000 meters.
The Canadian men lost their mojo in the punishing 25-lap race for a variety of reasons, after Fish won the world title ahead of silver medalist Bloemen in 2020.
There was also no Olympic Games they wanted two years ago in Beijing.
So Bloemen’s silver and Fish’s bronze Sunday at this year’s world championships in Calgary behind Italian winner Davide Ghiotto are markers of Canadians’ 10k revivals.
Fish of Moose Jaw, Sask., returned to the podium for the first time since his 2020 victory in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“It was nice to finally be on the podium after, I guess, four years of not being there,” the 26-year-old said.
A bout of COVID-19 hampered Fish’s preparations for Beijing, where he placed sixth.
He was also diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which Fish managed with medications and regular blood tests.
“Luckily we caught it,” Fish said. “Five years down the road could have been worse.
“Definitely now I feel more energy as you can see. The fitness level is back.”
Bloemen, the 2018 Olympic champion, got her 10k juices flowing again just over a year ago when she posted a track record of 12 minutes 33.75 seconds at a Calgary World Cup.
Bloemen, a Dutch-Canadian who moved to Calgary in 2014, then finished third at the 2023 world championships.
The 37-year-old admits that he did not handle the challenges of training well during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also got sick while running in Beijing. During the 10k, Bloemen stuck his finger out of his throat to signal to his coaches that he wasn’t having it that day.
“I’m 35 years old. I don’t really enjoy myself and I love this sport very much, so I don’t want to retire on that note,” said Bloemen.
“I wanted to find my passion. I wanted to enjoy speedskating again. With that motivation, I took it back up, changed my training program a bit and got back to swinging.”
Bloemen, who is married with two young children, Fiene and Thias, has adjusted training to his changing life.
“I find life with a family and getting a little older, it’s harder to find quality time in recovery,” Bloemen said. “Recovery is really important next to training. If you’re doing a lot of hard training and not recovering properly, the training isn’t going to be efficient and you’re digging yourself a hole.
“I found some techniques to deal with that in a more correct way.”
The host Canadian team won 10 medals at the four-day world single distance championship, the most by the country in a single event.
“To put on a show for the people in the stands, to teach them about speedskating and how good our country is in the sport, and how we can excel and succeed on the international stage, it’s an exciting summit in the season,” Canadian coach Mark Wild said.
Canada was shut out of the gold medals in the individual races at the Olympic Oval, however. Two came in the men’s and women’s team sprints, which are not Olympic events.
The Dutch remain the dominant nation in the sport with 13 medals, including six gold.
Jordan Stolz of the United States repeated his feat of three gold medals in three men’s individual races. The 19-year-old phenom became the first person to do so last year in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Stolz capped his second triple crown by winning the 1,500 meters on Sunday.
“I feel like winning twice is even more impressive,” Stolz said. “I think the feeling last year was a little surreal because it was the first world championship medals I got, but it’s also kind of crazy that I’m doing it again.”
Ghiotto repeated as 10k world champion in a career-best time of 12 minutes 38.81. Bloemen finished in 12:47.01 and Fish in 12:48.61.
Joy Beune and Irene Schouten went one-two for the Netherlands in the women’s 5,000 meters.
Czechia’s Martina Sablikova finished third and Ottawa’s Isabelle Weidemann fifth after finishing second to Schouten in the 3k to start the championship.
Miho Takagi of Japan won the women’s 1,500-meter title ahead of runner-up Mei Han of China and Beune in third.
Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands and Peder Kongshaug of Norway were second and third respectively behind Stolz in the men’s 1,500.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 18, 2024.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
