Speed Skating Canada –  Jelonek, Marcotte and Deibert all top 10 in mass start; Canada fourth in men’s team sprint; men fifth and ladies sixth in team pursuit

 

(Photo Credit: Ice Rink Piné, Facebook)

 

BASELGA DI PINE, ITALY – Canada capped off the 2019 ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships with their most successful day of races, earning six top 10 results on the outdoor oval in Baselga di Pine, Italy.

 

The Canadian long track skaters earned three top 10 results in the mass start races, the only individual distances contested on Sunday.

 

The men’s race was restarted after a few laps due to a collision that injured a Korean skater. After the restart, Jack Deibert of Calgary, Alta and Hubert Marcotte of Pont-Rouge, Que. were leading the pack from laps five to seven but ran out of steam and finished the race in sixth and seventh place, respective.

 

“We didn’t really have a strategy, but we knew that if we were together, we could help each other,” said Marcotte following the race. “I saw Jack continue after an intermediate sprint, so I followed him, and we helped each other to the next sprint lap. The group eventually caught up to us and we knew they were too fast.”

 

Gabrielle Jelonek of Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, Que. was the top ranked Canadian in the ladies’ mass start, earning a 10^th place result with a time of 5:43.520. Teammate Alexa Scott of Clandeboye, Man., who managed a top 10 result on both Friday and Saturday, was 18^th (5:46.190) in the same race.

 

In the men’s team sprint, Canada’s trio of Marcotte, Frank Roth of Calgary, Alta. and Connor Howe of Canmore, Alta. put forth an incredible race, clocking in at 1:26.266. They were in a medal position until the final pairing – comprised of eventual silver medalist Korea and bronze medalist Russia – crossed the finish line and edged them off the podium.

 

Canada would finish 0.89 seconds behind the bronze medal position, settling for a fourth-place result. The Netherlands set a new junior world record (1:25.135) on their way to a gold medal. They were joined on the podium by Korea (1:25.311) and Russia (1:25.379).

 

“It was an honour to lead the last lap of our team sprint for my last junior season,” remarked Howe, how was competing in his third world junior championships. “We had a quick start and stayed together. While we missed the podium, it was a solid race we can be proud of.”

 

The Canadians faired equally as well in the team pursuit races.

 

Scott, Jelonek and Ophélie Juneau of St-Raymond, Que. guided the ladies’ team to a fifth-place result with a time of 3:19.602, behind a podium that include new world junior record holders Japan (3:11.391), Netherlands (3:11.792) and Russia (3:16.208).

 

Howe, Marcotte and Deibert earned a sixth-place finish on the men’s side, posting a time of 4:01.153. They finished behind Norway (3:56.505), Russia (3:57.286) and Netherlands (3:58.328).

 

Canada finished the competition with a five of top 10 and six top 15 results in individual distances, along with a fourth, fifth and sixth place in team-based races. 

 

For more information on the event, including links to schedules and news releases, please visit the Speed Skating Canada website. Results can be found on the ISU Results Portal and the races can be viewed on the ISU YouTube.

 

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MEDIA

Alain Brouillette
Speed Skating Canada
Email: communications@speedskating.ca 
Phone: 613-601-2630