(Quebec) The door was ajar, but Laurent Dubreuil no longer had the legs to squeeze through.
Plagued by a cold, he placed fifth in the second 500 m of the Speed Skating World Cup in Quebec on Sunday afternoon, thus missing his attempt to finish at the top of the specialty rankings for the third consecutive year .
The day after his silver medal on Saturday, the Lévis skater had a bad night. Normally, he would have taken a day off, but he had a meeting with the American Jordan Stolz, with whom he made up the last pair.
A little earlier, the Japanese Wataru Morishige had moved into fourth place, which allowed the Quebecer to still hope to be ahead of him overall for the season. For this, however, he had to win, a colossal task with a direct rival of the caliber of Stolz, winner the day before after winning gold in the 1500m barely 50 minutes earlier…
The 19-year-old cut the suspense short: author of the best opening (100 m) of his career, he had Dubreuil in his sights in the opposite straight, taking advantage of his slipstream before diving into the inside turn, from which he sprang with a comfortable lead and his style always fluid.
His time: 34.36 s, one hundredth better than the record for the Dubreuil ring achieved in 2022.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Author of a lap below his standards, the 31-year-old Quebecer stopped the time at 34.81 s to rank fifth, just ahead of Morishige. The Poles Marek Kania (34.69 s) and Piotr Michalski (34.71 s) finished narrowly to share the silver and bronze. The explosive Japanese Yuma Murakami finished fourth in 34.81 s, the same time within a few thousandths as his friend Dubreuil.
“Today’s race was a little more difficult,” Dubreuil simply admitted. I just didn’t have my legs anymore with the cold I’ve been carrying around for a few days and the shopping we did on Friday and Saturday. Today, I was left with what we saw on the ice. It wasn’t my best. But in the end, maintaining my second place overall means a lot to me. This is a guarantee of my consistency from the start to the end of the season. »
By virtue of four victories in the first five events of the campaign, Morishige finished at the top of the ranking with 483 points, 17 better than Dubreuil, who won only once, in Poland, in December.
Initially, I didn’t feel too bad, but by the end, I didn’t anymore. It felt heavy, a little painful. I was surprised that my start was good, but my turn was not there, even though that is one of my strengths. I’m not worried. It will come back.
Laurent Dubreuil
With four gold medals in Quebec, the same total as a week earlier in Utah, Stolz continues to rewrite the history book of sport on two blades. In an interview, he said he surprised himself.
“I didn’t expect to have such a good race. I did a bunch of shopping this weekend. So it was a little strange to have had such a quick opening. »
Apparently impervious to pressure, the Wisconsin athlete only promises to “do what [qu’il peut] » at the next World Distance Championships in Calgary, from February 15 to 18.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Laurent Dubreuil retained his second place in the general classification.
Judging him “almost” untouchable over 1000 and 1500 m, Dubreuil hopes to be able to compete with him over the shortest distance.
“I believe in my chances. It’s going to take me a whole race and maybe a less good weekend on his part. I finished fifth with a cold and not 100%. In a way, that’s not a bad sign for two weeks from now. »
Beyond his silver medal on Saturday, Dubreuil has unforgettable memories of this World Cup.
“The ring is magnificent, the crowd was there. I hope it comes back before I retire. But I plan to skate long enough to relive it once or twice here. »