Morrison on track, but critical of his progress
For Denny Morrison, there are days when his slow recovery isn’t just frustrating, its demoralizing.
The four-time Olympic medallist is one of the world’s fastest men on ice. But the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, are just a year away, and the speedskater isn’t moving as quickly as he did before he endured a stroke and motorcycle crash in the span of a year.
“The 500 metres is not my marquee event, and that’s where my weaknesses show a lot,” Morrison said earlier this week. “I feel like I did as a junior. I feel like I’m not executing properly.”
In a Canada Cup race Wednesday, Morrison stopped the clock at 36.52 seconds in the 500 — good for second place, but way off his personal best of 34.85.
His lack of explosion off the start is perhaps a souvenir from the motorcycle crash in April 2015, which broke his femur, punctured his lung and left him concussed. The stroke last spring made matters worse — it could have killed the two-time world champion if it weren’t for the quick thinking of fiancee Josie Spence, who rushed him to hospital in Salt Lake City.
“It ends up filling your head with this cloud of questions and doubt,” he said. “You never know if you’re going to make it back or if you’re ever going to improve beyond that.”
Morrison qualified in October to represent Canada for the first half of the World Cup season. He won silver in team pursuit with Jordan Belchos and Ted-Jan Bloemen eight months after lying in the emergency room.
The next step of his recovery comes this week at the Canadian long-track championships, where Morrison hopes to qualify for the world single distance championships next month in South Korea.
“Denny has surprised everybody on the World Cup,” coach Bart Schouten said. “He’s ahead of schedule, even though he wants it to be faster. Obviously, he’s never happy until he’s back on top.”