World Cup 10,000m bronze for Bloemen in Heerenveen
Ted-Jan Bloemen won bronze in the only 10,000m race of the long track World Cup season in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
The world record holder and reigning world silver medallist crossed the finish line in 13:00.07 to place behind a pair of Dutch skaters, Jorrit Bergsma (12:52.20) and Erik-Jan Kooiman (12:57.92).
Bloemen now sits fifth in the overall World Cup standings for the combined 5000m and 10,000m. He won bronze in the 5000m last weekend in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen competes during the men’s 10,000 meters race of the Speedskating World Cup at the Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen, Netherlands, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Canada’s only other medal at the famed Thialf oval came in the non-Olympic team sprint. Laurent Dubreuil, Christopher Fiola and Vincent de Haitre followed up their gold medal from earlier this season in Nagano with a silver medal on Saturday.
Both the men’s (Bloemen, Jordan Belchos, Denny Morrison) and women’s (Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann, Brianne Tutt) team pursuit squads finished fifth, all but officially securing qualification for the 2017 World Single Distances Championships in Gangneung, South Korea in February, which will double as the Olympic test event for PyeongChang 2018.
Blondin had her consecutive podiums streak in the mass start snapped at nine with her 10th place finish in Heerenveen. The last time she missed a medal was at the 2015 World Cup Final.
“There is a little consolation in knowing that I’m the one that has the biggest target on my back, that I’m the one the other skaters are gunning for,” Blondin said in a Speed Skating Canada release. “For the future, I need to be more smart about it and not be as stubborn about leading all the time, about always wanting to close the gap, like I did today, which leads to me burying myself out. I need to be more patient.”
This was the final World Cup of the calendar year. The circuit will resume in late January in Berlin.
