Speed Skating Canada – Canada finishes the competition in second place with a total of eight medals

Helsinki, Finland, February 19, 2017 – Béatrice Lamarche and Graeme Fish each won a bronze medal in their respective mass start races, Sunday, to allow Canada to finish the ISU World Junior Long Track Speed Skating Championships held in Helsinki, Finland, with a total of eight medals.

The Canadian team therefore came in second in medal standings, which were dominated by the Netherlands with a tally of 20. Russia, Japan and Norway each came up with four medals to end up tied for third place.

On Sunday, Béatrice Lamarche of Quebec City, QC, and Graeme Fish, from Moose Jaw, SK, both earned their second medal of the competition when they collected bronze in the mass start events.

In the women’s event, Lamarche finished behind Dutch skaters Elisa Dul and Sanne In ‘t Hof. Véronique Déry of Lévis, QC, came in ninth.

At last year’s World Junior Championships, the 18-year-old athlete also finished third in the mass start.

“I’m really happy about this podium finish. I was kind of hoping for it,” said Lamarche, who also won bronze in Saturday’s 1000m. “I was mostly hoping to have a good race and everything fell into place. It was a tough race because there was a lot of contact, but it wasn’t that hard in terms of speed. The challenge was to keep both feet on the ice because there was a lot of falling, bumping around and pushing. I’m really proud of myself, and proud of how the competition turned out. It didn’t start off that well, but it ended great, that’s for sure.”

In the men’s mass start, Graeme Fish finished behind Chris Huizinga of the Netherlands and South Korea’s Hyun Min Oh. He therefore added a bronze medal to the one he earned in Saturday’s 5000m. Tyson Langelaar of Winnipeg, MB, skated to eighth place in Sunday’s race.

“It was fun. I didn’t know if it was actually going to happen. I just came out looking to have fun because it was my last race, my last one in my junior career. It turned out well,” said Graeme Fish, who was called upon to replace David La Rue from Saint-Lambert, QC, at the last minute.

“Two years ago, when I went to the Canada Games, I didn’t really think this would ever be a possibility, but getting two medals is a dream come true,” added Fish, who was taking part in his first and last World Junior Championships. “Now, let’s see if I can carry that on throughout my career and possibly all the way to the Olympics one day.”

In the team pursuit event, the Canadian women’s team comprised of Véronique Déry, Béatrice Lamarche and Carolane Gingras of Quebec City, QC, ended up at the foot of the podium, in fourth place, with a time of 3:27.22. They finished 14 hundredths of a second away from Italy, which won bronze. The Netherlands (3:23.43) won the race ahead of Japan (3:26.04).

“There’s no doubt that fourteen hundredths of a second, that’s not a lot and you tell yourself that you’re so close to a bronze medal, but the fact remains that we’re really happy,” said the reigning Canadian junior champion, Véronique Déry, who will again be eligible to take part in the World Junior Championships next year, as will Béatrice Lamarche. “Béatrice, Carolane and I have been training together for a while, and we all had the motivation to have a good race. We really executed well what we’ve been doing in training.”

Graeme Fish, Tyson Langelaar and David La Rue, for their part, took fifth place in the men’s team pursuit, skating to a time of 4:15.21. Japan (4:09.65), the Netherlands (4:11.08) and Norway (4:14.09) ended up on the podium, in that order.

Canada therefore registered a total of eight medals over the competition, including the bronze medal won by Tyson Langelaar for finishing third in the men’s individual overall standings. Langelaar earned a total of four medals, as he also collected bronze in the 1000m and in the 1500m, as well as silver in the team sprint with David La Rue and Connor Howe of Calgary, AB. Béatrice Lamarche, for her part, won two bronze medals, in the 1000m and the mass start, as did Graeme Fish, in the 5000m and mass start events. Canada also came in fourth on two occasions – David La Rue in the men’s 1000m as well as in the case of the women’s team pursuit.

TODAY’S CANADIAN RESULTS

Team Pursuit W

BRONZE – Béatrice Lamarche

9. Véronique Déry

Team Pursuit M

BRONZE – Graeme Fish

8. Tyson Langelaar

Team Pursuit W

Canada: 4 (3:27,22)
(Véronique Déry, Carolane Gingras, Béatrice Lamarche)

Team Pursuit M

Canada: 5 (4:15,21)

(Graeme Fish, Tyson Langelaar, David La Rue)

More details are available at Speed Skating Canada’s web site at www.speedskating.ca.

About Speed Skating Canada

Speed Skating Canada (SSC) is the governing body for competitive long track and short track speed skating in Canada. Founded in 1887, the association is comprised of 13 provincial and territorial branches representing more than 14,000 individual members, and counting. SSC believes that sport is an apprenticeship for life and prizes respect for others, integrity, excellence of effort, as well as a safe, healthy environment. SSC recognizes and values its outstanding volunteers who give freely of their time and expertise. It also celebrates the 63 Olympic medals won by Canadian athletes since 1932, as well as the coaches, officials and other dedicated individuals who helped them on their journey.

SSC is proud to be affiliated with partners that share the same vision and values including our premium sponsors Intact Insurance, as well as our funding partners, the Government of Canada, Own the Podium, City of Montreal, Calgary Olympic Oval and WinSport Canada.

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For information:

Patrick Godbout

Communications & Media Relations Manager

Speed Skating Canada

Email: pgodbout@speedskating.ca

Phone: 514 213-9897

Website: www.speedskating.ca 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SSC.PVC

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SSC_PVC

Kerry Dankers
Long Track Program and Communications Coordinator
Speed Skating Canada
Email: kdankers@speedskating.ca
Phone: 403-589-8960
Website: www.speedskating.ca  
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SSC.PVC 
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SSC_PVC