Bloemen gearing up for double duty at Olympics
Speedskater qualifies for PyeongChang Games in 5,000m and 10,000m events
It’s the final push for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
But Ted-Jan Bloemen has been ready for that supreme test for a while.
“I’m really excited to go to the Olympics. It’s going to be my first time,” said a grinning Bloemen, who is originally from Leiderdorp, the Netherlands but is now based in Calgary.
“I’m just trying to take it day by day and get the most out of every day. I’m having a lot of fun in training. I’m trying not to get too excited for what’s to come because, of course, I want to go. I want to go now. I’m ready.”
In the men’s 5,000 metres, Bloemen — who set a world record of 6:01.86 earlier this month in Salt Lake City — finished on top of the heap at the Canadian Single Distance long track speedskating championships (which doubled as the Olympic trials) on Thursday in a time of 6:16.36, thus qualifying for the event at the Games.
Over the next five days of racing at the Olympic Oval, excluding Sunday, Canada’s long track Olympic squad will be decided. Speed Skating Canada can name up to a total of 20 athletes, including 10 women and 10 men. The final contingent will be determined by next Wednesday.
On Friday, the women’s and men’s 500m races will be held.
Bloemen, 31, pre-qualified for the 10,000m. He had hoped for better things in the 5,000m, but in the end, got the desired result.
“It wasn’t my best race,” he said. “I’m making so much easy speed at the moment because I’m feeling really good and it’s really easy for me to get going. But the conditions aren’t always supportive of that, so it’s not always easy to keep that speed going. Today, I had a bit of a struggle with that and I had a hard time stabilizing my lap time.
“I did everything I could to earn my pre-qualification, but if there is only one spot for Canada available, you can’t pre-qualify, and it has to be available at the Olympic trials. It’s out of my control. It was up to me to perform well today.”
In the second major event of the day, the women’s 3,000m, Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin — who had already pre-qualified — finished first in a time of 4:04.31. Isabelle Weidemann, also of Ottawa, did herself a huge favour by finishing second in 4:05.01, as did Brianne Tutt of Airdrie in third (4:07.52), making them good bets for the Olympic team.
“It was a little bit slow out there today, but I did what I came out to do and qualified, which is very exciting,” said Weidemann, who is going to her first Olympic Games. “I actually haven’t thought anything about the Olympics, so I’m excited to go home and think about it.”
“I’ve been sick for a little while, so my goal was to go for it,” said Tutt, who will be making her second Games appearance. “I did just enough to qualify. I’m not super thrilled with it, but happy enough.”
Besides Bloemen and Blondin, three athletes have pre-qualified for various distances, including Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, Que., in the 500m.
Blondin also pre-qualified in the women’s 5,000m due to her bronze-medal finish at the 2017 World Single Distance Championships and a bronze medal in a World Cup event in Norway. As well, she’s done so for the mass start due to a top-16 finish in the World Cup overall standings, as did Quebec’s Olivier Jean and Burlington’s Keri Morrison.