Even though he achieved his biggest goal of the season by winning a medal at the Olympic Games, Laurent Dubreuil is not satisfied and wants to finish the season strong.
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With his silver medal won in the 1000m event, the long track speed skater flew to Norway the day after the closing ceremony in preparation for the world sprint championship which will take place in Hamar from 3 to March 6. The World Allround is also on the menu as Olympic medalists Valérie Maltais and Ivanie Blondin will be in action.
The sprinters will compete in two 500m and two 1000m events and the cumulative ranking of the four races will crown a world champion. “In my career goals when I was 18 or 19, there was a title in the world sprint championship, confided Dubreuil. It was a goal on par with winning the world by distance, which I achieved last year, and Olympic gold, which I may never achieve. »
“It’s smaller than the Olympic Games, but it’s huge, the world sprint championship, to pursue the 29-year-old skater from Lévis. My Olympic medal helps me have fun in training. I now have a light heart and feel less pressure. My goal of winning a medal at the Games is achieved and I will have had a good season regardless of what happens at the worlds and the World Cup finals the week after in the Netherlands. »
No return to Quebec
In order to maximize his chances of success, Dubreuil traveled to Norway immediately after the Games without returning home like most skaters. “I would have spent only three or four nights at most at home and composed with two shifts, he said. The return lag from Asia is the most difficult to combat. »
“It’s more difficult to see my family only two or three days and have to leave again, added Dubreuil. It’s hard for me and my daughter to be apart when I go on a trip and it would have opened the wound again if I had been home for just a few days. From a sporting point of view, these are important races and I want to be in the best possible condition. »
Podium
Dubreuil wants to return to the podium. “I’m here to win medals,” he said. After two days of vacation in Oslo which did me a lot of good, I’m really motivated. I’m not stressed, just excited to go for good results. I have the legs to win medals and possibly go for victories. »
Constant like Swiss clockwork since the start of the season, as evidenced by his eight medals in as many 500m events in the World Cup, Dubreuil finds himself among the favorites for victory in Norway.
“I have been consistent since the start of the season and I am one of the skaters who best combines the 500m and the 1000m, explained the 2020 world sprint silver medalist. to have a bad race because the four results are added together. »
Dubreuil thanks his opponent
Touched by the gesture of his Dutch opponent Kai Verbij during the Olympic 1000m event, Laurent Dubreuil wanted to let the dust settle and thank him when the time came. He was able to walk the talk before entering the Olympic Stadium for the closing ceremonies last Sunday.
Serious contender for the podium and reigning world champion, Verbij had given way to Dubreuil in the last crossing because the Quebec skater was faster and was coming from the outside lane. Contact would have ruined Dubreuil’s race. The two rivals skated in the last pair.
Huge disappointment
“I saw him before the opening ceremony and I thanked him for his very sporty gesture,” said Dubreuil. Like me when I finished in 4th place in the 500m, he had a big disappointment in the 1000m. These are big disappointments that look like romantic breakups. When that happens, you feel like nothing is working in your life anymore. Food no longer tastes the same. »
“You have to grieve, and it happens at some point, to add the leader to the cumulative World Cup standings in the 500m. It’s big, but it’s still just sport. »
Gold medalist in 2017 and 4th in 2020 when Dubreuil took second place on the podium, Verbij is one of the favorites in Hamar. “He will have the chance to take his revenge, summed up Dubreuil. I can’t wait to face him again. He is exceptional over 1000m and very good over 500m. »
Gold medalist in 2020, the Japanese Tatsuya Shinama will be one to watch, as will the Polish Piotr Michalski and the Norwegian Havard Holmefjod Lorentzen, who is Dubreuil’s best friend on the circuit besides the Canadian skaters.