THE NETHERLANDS – One world cup race down and one medal for Canmore-native Connor Howe.
The long-track speed skater won bronze on Friday (Jan. 22) at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, along with Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen and Jordan Belchos in the men’s team pursuit with a time of 3:41.711.
“Third in the team pursuit at World Cup 1 is a great way to start off racing here in the Hub,” said Howe in an email.
“Jordan and Ted-Jan are top long-distance skaters and have lots of experience, so make ideal pursuit teammates. We skated well together and I’m happy that I was able to build speed during my lead in the middle of the race as well.”
🚨 MEDAL ALERT!🚨
— Speed Skating Canada | Patinage de Vitesse Canada (@SSC_PVC) January 22, 2021
🇨🇦 Ted-Jan Bloemen, Jordan Belchos and Connor Howe lead Canada to a World Cup 🥉 bronze medal in the men's Team Pursuit! It's also @Connor_Howe00's first career World Cup medal!#FasterForward #SpeedSkating pic.twitter.com/j9HvozrZRz
Finishing in first was the Netherlands (3:40.332), followed by Norway (3:41.628).
The medal was Howe’s first on the world cup.
“Getting on the podium was special for me as it was my first time racing this event at a world cup. We also think there is room to improve our time in the next two pursuits,” Howe said.
“This race today gives me confidence for my individual races, the 1,500m (Jan 22) and 1,000m (Jan 23).”
The Canadian women also stood tall on the podium in their team pursuit on Friday.
Winning gold was the Canuck team consisting of Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais, with a time of 2:56.718.
In second was the Netherlands (2:57.040), and third was Norway (2:59.247).
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