Long track speed skating | Laurent Dubroil is “on the cloud”

Simon Droin
Press

By planting his blades in front of the starting line, he realized that Laurent Dubroil needed a race in his life, hoping to reach the podium for the seventh time in a row. Leader in the World Cup standings, he never reached the 33-second mental barrier.

And there is the Canadian record of 34.03 seconds of Jeremy Otherspoon, which he has dreamed of since he was 15 and lost two hundredths a week in Salt Lake City.

The world champion could crash. Instead, he climbed like never before at the first 500 meters of the Long Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Calgary on Friday afternoon.

His time: 33.77 seconds, 28 hundred huge personal breakthrough took him to another angle. He raises his hands to the sky. Suddenly, he was the second performer in distance history. Only Russian Pavel Kuliznikov was already twice as good as him (33.61s and 33.71s). He felt that the next four contestants could not eliminate him.

“I know I can do 33, but I do not have 33.7 in my mind, not at all,” Dubroil admitted more enthusiastically than ever. This is proof that when you do not set limits, when you execute your race plan, when you think about what to do to go faster, you will surprise yourself. ”

The 29-year-old was particularly proud that he had removed the spoon, the best sprinter in history in his eyes, his global brand founded in 2007, and lasted eight years until Kuliznikov snatched it from him.

“It represents a lot. I’m set a world record at the time. We watched that race almost every day to understand how good a skater is technically and physically.”

Otherspoon, who coaches Norway, was the first person to sit next to Dubroil to congratulate him. He acknowledged that losing the record was a bit of a chore, but said he was glad Cubeser had taken it.

“I took it as a mark of respect. It was obvious. I was told how meaningful it was to hit that time. What a dream of our childhood.”

When the winner unzipped his skates, a member of the Canadian team handed him the phone. It was his coach Gregor Zelonek who had to follow the race from Quebec because he caught COVID-19 in Norway a few weeks ago.

“He’s not completely consistent, he’s on a very tight carpet! Dubreuil’s related, amusing. He’s just happy. He’s screaming! He’s a High Just like me! ”

From the warmup, the skater from Lewis knew he had a good day. He started brilliantly: 9.46 in the first 100 meters, a personal best of 100.8 seconds behind Chinese Tingyu Gao, who won the silver medal in 33.87 seconds. His turn was also impressive: 24.3s.

“Also when things are going well, speed skating is easy. While the 500 meters is not a long distance, it is a really tough, cyclical sport. Technically, the position is not natural. But when you skate it well, it feels effortless. […] You will not feel tired after a race like this, you will feel like you can do something else as soon as you do. But you’re like on the cloud. This is how you feel. ”

Considered “unbelievable” as the second performer in history today, Dubroil now dreams of one day setting a world record.

“There is one man left to search for the world record. But 16 hundred is still a lot! Do not expect to do in two days. This is not even the goal. It prepares me for despair. All I could do at this point was pretty much. But I’m getting closer to it and I do not think I’m at the peak of my career. […] It is more legitimate to believe that I can defeat him one day. ”

After beating Gao for the first time on a regular basis, Dubroil became one of the big favorites for the Beijing Olympics.

“I don’t project myself like that,” he reiterated. I’m on a good streak, I’m happy and I want this to continue for another two days. After that, there will be one Reset At home, relax, we’re going to train again and in fact I see this as an opportunity. ”

“Yeah, it’s good for me if the games happen tomorrow, but I think I can go a little further. With two months left for me, it was a two month effort. I try to align everything to achieve my best, but because of these two months I can stay even better.

With a training session for Canada scheduled just before 7:30 am, Dubreuil did not expect to skate at the Olympic Oval on Saturday. He reserved himself on Sunday, where he would line up for the second 500m and then the 1000m. “I hope there’s some magic left in my legs, but I think so!” ”