CALGARY – Four world cups and four medals for rising speed skater star Connor Howe.
The 22-year-old national champion from Canmore won silver at the ISU Long Track Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary – Howe's first-ever medal in mass start.
"Calgary was a success overall," said Howe, an eight-time world cup medallist. "And the last day of racing I didn’t feel as much pressure and had fun, skating my best 1000m this year and first mass start podium with teammate Hayden Mayeur."
Belgium’s Bart Swings won gold and Canada’s Hayden Mayeur took bronze in the 16-lap (6,400m) mass start final.
After a “rookie mistake” cost him a spot in the top 16 in the mass start of last week’s Calgary world cup, Howe looked anything but green on Sunday (Dec. 18).
In the last lap of the last race of the world cup stop in Calgary, Howe moved into fourth in what became chaotic finish. The Canuck made his move with 400m left opposed to a week prior, with two laps to go in the mass start, Howe got confused in the mass start semifinals and pushed ahead with 800m left. The Canmore skater blew his energy and failed to qualify for the mass start finals.
This time, he cruised behind the leaders and waited for his moment.
In the final turn, Korea’s Seung-Hoon Lee, sitting in second place, blew a tire and his hand clipped the skate of Italy’s Andrea Giovannini, in third, as both went crashing into the outer wall.
Howe went from fourth to second in a matter of milliseconds and held the spot down the final stretch.
😮 The very last final of the Calgary World Cup delivered plenty of drama and saw Bart Swings 🇧🇪 win a brilliant finish ahead of Connor Howe and Hayden Mayeur 🇨🇦
— ISU Speed Skating (@ISU_Speed) December 18, 2022
📺 https://t.co/CifPnUfzeF#SpeedSkating pic.twitter.com/K7NPWH5oQd
"I was in fourth and set up my corner to hopefully gain one or two positions, but then they fell so I just had to stay on my feet and keep my speed," said Howe.
"Mass start corners are tighter than the normal racing lane so [it] can be hard to navigate in a final sprint but I just managed."
It’s been a head-turning season for Howe, who won silver in his specialty race, the 1,500m, in Stavanger, Norway, in the season opener.
A week later, Howe claimed his biggest achievement to date and won gold in the 1,500m in Heerenveen, Netherlands, among the big dogs of the sport.
The world cup then travelled from Europe to Canada, for back-to-back events in Calgary, known for its fast ice.
The local speed skater wasn’t able to capture medal success in the 1,500m in the first of two events in Calgary, but took silver in team pursuit along with teammates Hayden Mayeur and Antoine Gélinas–Beaulieu, besting the 2022 Olympic pursuit champions from Norway in the process.
"The 1,500 [metre races] were a bit disappointing [in Calgary], because my legs were not feeling as good as usual and technical execution was a bit off," said Howe. "It was nice to see our team pursuit training pay off with a silver.
"In the next few weeks we’ll do some more heavier training because there’s a bit of time before any important races. The next big ones are the two world cups in Poland in February and then World Championships in the Netherlands."
