THE NETHERLANDS – Canada's men’s team pursuit has made itself known as viable threat to the crown of the speed skating kings.
On Friday (Feb. 12) at the ISU World Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, Canada’s team of Connor Howe, Jordan Belchos, and Ted-Jan Bloemen won silver at the biggest event of the year and closed the gap between themselves and their dominant Dutch counterparts.
“I’m very happy with our race and with the silver medal,” said Canmore’s Howe in a press release.
“We had to work hard for it today and I’m proud of us. I never expected getting a result like this a couple months ago; it’s kind of hard to believe that it happened.”
The silver is the first world championship medal for 20-year-old Howe, who also won his first world cup medals (silver and bronze) a few weeks earlier in team pursuit.
In first was the Netherlands, and Russia in third.
The flying Dutchmen finished at a time of 3:41.429, while the second-place Canadians were nipping at their heels, only .28 seconds behind.
The Dutch have had the distinction of being the undisputed kings of team pursuit since it debuted in 2005, winning gold every year except for one.
However, the great and unexpected results from Canada is giving the Canucks confidence a year out from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
“It’s looking very promising going into the Olympic season where we’ll be able to prepare much better in relation to our opponents,” said Ted-Jan Bloemen.
In a previous interview with the Outlook, Howe said he believes Canada's best shot at an Olympic medal is in team pursuit.
Howe, who’s a long track specialist, now turns his immediate attention toward individual racing for the reminder of the world championship.
On Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 13-14), Howe competes in his specialty events, the 1,000-metre and 1,500m.
During the world cup in January, the former Banff/Canmore Speed Skating star finished seventh in the 1,500m and 11th in the 1,000m.
