Canada's Dubreuil breaks national record to win gold at Calgary speed skating World Cup
CBC Sports | Posted: December 10, 2021 8:39 PM | Last Updated: December 10, 2021
Fellow Canadian Isabelle Weidemann skates to 3,000m silver with personal best
Canada's Laurent Dubreuil put an exclamation mark on a successful World Cup season on Friday in Calgary.
The Levis, Que., broke the national record in the 500 metres with a time of 33.778 seconds to win gold and mark the seventh consecutive race in which he's reached the podium in the distance.
The Canadian mark had stood since Jeremy Wotherspoon lowered it to 34.03 seconds in 2007. Dubreuil came close to the mark last week in Salt Lake City, crossing the finish line in what was then a personal-best 34.05 seconds.
The world record of 33.61 seconds belongs to Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov, who achieved the feat in 2019.
WATCH | Dubreuil smashes national record to win gold:
China's Tingyu Gao scored silver in 33.876 seconds, while Japan's Yuma Murakami took bronze at 33.898.
Calgary marks the final World Cup event of the season, with the men's 500m to be contested again on Sunday. Dubreuil, 29, will also compete in the men's 1,500 that day.
WATCH l Beijing Today - Laurent Dubreuil:
Weidemann win's 3k-metre silver
In the women's 3,000-metre race, Ottawa's Isabelle Weidemann set a personal best with a time of 3:55.33 to win silver.
Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida won gold in a time of 3:54.43, while Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic finished third in 3:55.50.
Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que. placed in sixth in 3:59.73, while Ottawa's Ivanie Blondin clocked a time of 4:01.86 to finish 14th.
WATCH | Weidemann wins silver, sets personal best:
In the women's 500m race, Russia's Olga Fatkulina set a personal best time of 36.72 on her way to winning gold. Japan's Nao Kodaira won silver in 36.81, while Russia's Angelina Golikova earned bronze in 36.82.
Masha Hudey of White City, Sask., was top Canadian in 18th place in a time of 38.05.
Action from Calgary continues on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The Canadian contingent includes 16 men and 11 women and it's the last chance for the skaters to pre-qualify spots at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
WATCH | Cassie Sharpe's comeback, Mikael Kingsbury's hunt for gold on tap this weekend: