Canada’s Dubreuil wins silver in 500m speed skating at Poland World Cup
Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil Wins Silver in Men’s 500m Speed Skating Event
Canadian speed skater Laurent Dubreuil continues to impress on the international stage, earning a silver medal in the men’s 500-metre event at the World Cup stop in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. This marks Dubreuil’s 40th career individual distance medal, solidifying his status as one of the top speed skaters in the world.
Clocking in at 34.73 seconds, Dubreuil finished just 0.24 seconds behind American standout Jordan Stolz, who claimed the gold medal with a time of 34.49 seconds. South Korea’s Jun-Ho Kim took home the bronze in 34.77 seconds.
A 2022 Olympic silver medallist, Dubreuil’s strong form has been evident in recent competitions. Last month, he became the first Canadian in nearly two decades to reach the podium at Milwaukee’s Pettit National Ice Center, where he secured a bronze medal in the 500m event.
Moving into second place in the overall 500m standings with 330 points, Dubreuil now holds a slim seven-point lead over Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama. However, Stolz remains far ahead in first place with 474 points.
Reflecting on his performance, Dubreuil acknowledged the challenge of competing against Stolz. “The race today was a good race. It was hard to stay focused the last 200 metres with Jordan skating away,” he said. “It was the part of the race that I would like to have back, but he was getting away no matter what.”
With a total of six gold, 20 silver, and 14 bronze medals since joining the World Cup circuit in the 2011-12 season, Dubreuil’s impressive track record speaks for itself. Additionally, he has earned eight career medals at the world single-distance championships and two medals at the world sprint championships.
Expressing his satisfaction with reaching the milestone of 40 medals, Dubreuil revealed his ambitious goal for the future. “After the last Olympics, I challenged myself — I was at 24 medals at that point, and I wanted to shoot for 50. Winning 50 medals is now the goal,” he said.
In addition to Dubreuil’s success, fellow Canadians Anders Johnson and Christopher Fiola also competed in the event, finishing second-last and last, respectively. Canada secured four additional top-10 finishes on the opening day of competition in Poland.
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating will continue with women’s 1000m and 3000m events, as well as men’s 1000m and 5000m events on Saturday. Viewers can catch live coverage of the events on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with a live streaming schedule available for reference.
