Canada's Dubreuil earns sprint bronze at speed skating worlds in Germany
CBC Sports | Posted: March 8, 2024 8:53 PM | Last Updated: March 9
Quebec native fades in final race to fall from top spot as China's Ning wins gold
Canada's Laurent Dubreuil will leave the World Allround Speed Skating Championships with some hardware.
The Lévis, Que., native earned sprint bronze on Friday in Inzell, Germany, posting the third-fastest combined time across two 500- and two 1,000-metre races.
China's Zhongyan Ning won gold with a total time of two minutes 16.68 seconds, while the Netherlands' Jenning De Boo took silver at 2:17.05.
Dubreuil sat in first place through two races on Thursday, and continued his strong form with the second-fastest 500 time on Friday. But the Canadian slowed considerably in the final 1,000, labouring to 17th to fall to into the bronze-medal position with his combined time of 2:17.515.
WATCH | Dubreuil lands bronze in final 1,000 race:
"I was far from being at my best. I just got sick one too many times this season," Dubreuil said. "When I left home, I was no longer aiming for victory; I just wanted to give myself a chance to reach the podium.
"I was in first place after the first day, but Zhongyan Ning was right behind me. With the way he skated today, I would have had to been in the best shape of my life to challenge him for first. He was truly exceptional."
Yankun Zhao, the only other Canadian in the men's sprint field, placed 23rd overall with a total time of 2:21.565.
The 31-year-old Dubreuil was second overall in the men's season-long 500 World Cup rankings, but sat just 23rd in the 1,000.
He won silver in the 500 at the recent single distance world championships in Calgary, while also leading Canada to team-sprint gold in world-record time.
Maddison Pearman, the lone Canadian competing in the women's sprint events, finished 21st with a combined time of 2:35.390.
Japan's Miho Takagi won the gold medal at 2:27.545, holding on to the first-place spot she held after Thursday. The Netherlands' Femke Kok and Jutta Leerdam rounded out the podium with the former setting a track record in the 500 and the latter breaking the track record in the 1,000.
Long-distance events take place on Saturday and Sunday. Live coverage from Germany continues Saturday at 6:45 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
WATCH | Dubreuil 2nd in Friday's 500: