Highs and lows. That’s how you could describe Laurent Dubreuil’s second World Cup weekend. After a tenth place finish in the 1,000 meters on Friday and gold in the 500 meters on Saturday, he and his teammates took seventh place in the team sprint and Dubreuil makes no secret of it, “it wasn’t good. »
The Lévis athlete was packing his bags at his accommodation in the Netherlands when he answered the call from The Press.
A few hours earlier, he had to suffer his second disappointment of the weekend. Christopher Fiola, Connor Howe and him were not able to deliver the expected performance in the team sprint event, the last of this passage in Heerenveen.
For him, there is only one reason that can explain this failure and it is the lack of execution. “We overestimated a bit how fast we could go by staying connected with Connor, who was finishing. We didn’t give him a chance, ”explains the Quebecer.
A few hours earlier, Howe had won the gold medal in the 1500m event. Nevertheless, Dubreuil refuses to believe that this is what could have slowed down his teammate’s performance at the end of the day. Rather, he believes it was he and Fiola who misjudged what Howe had to offer. “He’s a bit longer distance guy. He won the 1500m today, he’s an exceptional skater, but we started too fast and he never hung on. »
In this type of test, the phenomenon of aspiration is of paramount importance. Without grouping, the aerodynamics offered by early skaters is futile. Howe had to do his laps practically by himself, dropped from the start by his teammates.
“I was hoping Connor was there and when I got up I saw he was incredibly far away. There I understood that we had made the worst mistake we could have made today. »
Gold, despite everything
Although the start and end of his weekend were disappointing, Dubreuil still won the 500m race between the two. “If I am told that at each World Cup I will win gold, I will always sign at the bottom of the page. That’s my goal, to be the best in the world. However, he insists that of his three races, “only one went well. »
The standards of the reigning champion of the 500m cumulative ranking are extremely high, it is certain that he would have liked to do more. Especially since he had won two medals the previous week in Norway. Gold does not save everything, but allows her to keep smiling despite everything. “At least, having had a very good race in the 500m, I’m still happy with my weekend, he explains, but it’s obvious that I would have liked better to have been good at all the races. . »
Finally back
Dubreuil will be able to take a break over the next few days. He will play the Four Continents Championship in two weeks and the World Cup in Calgary the following week. In the meantime, he will be spending time with his family at home.
He emphasizes: “I wouldn’t have wanted to leave for a month for my first trip. I still impose that on my family. My two-month-old boy doesn’t realize it, but my wife and three-year-old daughter realize it in damn that I’m gone. »
He will thus be able to fill up on “happiness and beautiful moments”, before attacking the end-of-year sprint.
Two medals for Canada
In addition to the gold medal won by Howe, three-time Olympic medalist Isabelle Weidemann took second place on the podium in the 3000m event.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Canadian Isabelle Weidemann then Beijing Olympics
Only veteran and local favorite Irene Schouten beat her, by almost four seconds, thanks to a high quality race.
Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais finished fifth and tenth respectively in the same event.