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Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary will end his Olympic speed skating career with one medal over 5,000 metres after placing 13th in the men’s event on Sunday in Italy.
At 39, the Dutch-born athlete was the oldest in the 20-man field and covered 12 1/2 laps at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in six minutes 17.97 seconds.
Norway’s Sander Eitrem won in an Olympic-record 6:03.95, beating the previous mark of 6:08.84 by nearly five seconds. Metodej Jilek of Czechia captured silver (6:06.48) and Riccardo Lorello took bronze before a home crowd in 6:09.22.
“This is maybe my last 5K and this is what I had,” said Bloemen, whose wife Marlinde, six-year-old daughter Fiene and three-year-old Thias were in the stands. “I kind of felt this coming but still I kept believing in it and I wanted to put myself into a position where if for some magical reason I had the legs today, I was going to use them and I was going to win.
“At least I gave myself the opportunity. I’m really proud of that and I am really proud that I have showed my kids to do that in life, to just put yourself in the position, that you can find the glory if it’s there.”
Bloemen will race the men’s 10,000 final on Feb. 13.
It was a remarkable recovery after about as bad of a beginning as possible by Eitrem, who lost his balance a bit during his first few strides. He lost about a quarter of a second to Lorello by the initial checkpoint, but was ahead after 1,400 metres and added to that advantage.
“I am so inspired,” said CBC Sports analyst and two-time Canadian Olympic speed skater Anastasia Bucsis. “What a character skate [by Eitrem]. He laid his heart on the line every step of the way. He kept his cool, gorgeous technique. He is the real deal.”
He won gold in that event and silver in the 5,000 at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, ending an 86-year Olympic medal drought for Canada.
Canadian speed skater Ted-Jan Bloemen shares how fatherhood and a fresh mindset have shaped his training, happiness, and support for teammates as he continues competing.
1st man under 6 minutes
On Sunday, Bloemen skated in the last of 10 pairs against Frenchman Timothy Loubineaud, who placed fifth in 6:11.15. Bloemen hovered about half a second off the lead in the early laps before fading in the back half.
The 29-year-old reservist police officer set a world record of 6:00.23 in winning his first World Cup 5,000 race at the season opener on Nov. 14 in Salt Lake City.
On Jan. 24, Eitrem set the world mark of 5:58.52 in Inzell, Germany, the first-ever man to complete the 5,000 in under six minutes.
Eitrem ‘untouchable’
“After Inzell the pressure was high,” the 23-year-old told reporters. “I skated my best race [Sunday], so [it is] a big, big dream coming true.
“The key was to be relaxed and think about it as a normal race. If I do that, I can skate fast. I do not have to overcomplicate things, just keep it simple.”
Added Bucsis: “He had something special a few weeks ago and certainly kept the good times rolling [Sunday]. Sander Eitram is untouchable right now. He’s going to be [a champion] for years and years.”
“Overtraining and travel to Inzell for the last World Cup before the Olympic Games may have taken its toll on Bloemen, said his longtime coach Bart Schouten.
January workouts ‘a little too intense’
“We did a little too much hard training in January, and then when we came to Inzell with the jet lag, we did a couple of workouts that were, I think, a little bit too intense,” Schouten said.
“He’s 39 now. It takes a lot longer for an athlete to come back. We did three workouts in a row that I think were harder than we actually put on the program, so that just took a little too much out of him. I think his recovery was really taking longer because of that.”
Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada finishes third in the men’s 5,000-metre final at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary with a time of 6:02.26.
In November, Bloemen went 6:02.26 for bronze — the second fastest time of his career — to break Sven Kramer’s 18-year-old oval mark in Calgary before Eitrem and eventual winner Casey Dawson of the United States lowered the time.
“He has done so much for so many,” said Bucsis. “He’s changed the game for speed skating, certainly in [Canada]. He should be very, very proud.”
Canada’s most decorated male long-distance skater has collected over 25 World Cup medals. An eight-time medallist at world single distance championships, Bloemen won a 2020 world title in the 5,000 but was 10th at the 2021 Beijing Olympics and seventh at last year’s worlds.
Last year, he blew away the field at the Canadian long track championships in Calgary, taking the men’s 10,000 in 12:57.69.
Bloemen has the opportunity Friday to create more Olympic memories for his children before his career is over.
“I’m just going to regroup and rest up a little bit and go full send again on the 10K,” he stated.
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