Even though he’s not at his best at the moment, runner-up world champion Laurent Dubreuil isn’t worried as the World Cup long-distance speed skating season begins.
The World Championship begins on Thursday with a first stage in Obihiro, Japan. The action will continue in Beijing from November 17th to 19th. After a stop in Spain for a training camp, the Canadian team will spend the first two weekends in December completing the fall in Norway and Poland.
“I’m aware that I’m not top, top, but I’m not worried,” summarized Dubreuil the day before his departure for Japan, a country he loves. I am confident that I will make up for the missing tick in the winter. I have never won a senior medal in Japan and China and I would like to rectify the situation to create good memories.
“I’m not as fast as I would have liked, but I’m not far away from chasing the 1000m silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics. Is that a bad thing? In the short term, the answer is yes because I won six medals last fall and was first overall in the 500m and 1000m. In the winter, however, I wasn’t as good.”
Dubreuil fretted over a knee injury before arriving for the nationals in Calgary Oct. 5-8 and assured that everything was back to normal. “I only feel pain when I do heavy squats,” he explained. I do 95 percent of what I normally do in training. My return will be gradual. It’s getting better and better and I can’t wait to see where I stand compared to the best skaters. I looked at the Dutch selection.”
Very high goals
Knee injury or not, Dubreuil has high goals for next season. “The ultimate goal is to win gold in the 500m at the World Championships,” he said. I would also like to take first place in the overall World Cup rankings. I’m aware that these are very ambitious goals, but they allow me to push myself to my limits.”
The Sprint World Championship, held every two years, is back this year and is also in Dubreuil’s sights. “If I hadn’t gotten sick with COVID-19 two years ago, I would have won. This year it’s a bit unrealistic to think that I can win if Thomas Krol keeps driving like this. A medal would be a good achievement. It’s one of the titles I’ve never won. In two years I will be old and this may be the last year I can aim for a medal.
These lofty goals serve as motivation. “I’m happy with my career, but I want to excel enough to win medals,” Dubreuil said. I want to win medals and that’s no reason to be happy. I’ve had a great career and have nothing to prove. I’m not a legend of my sport, but I am one of the good skaters of my time. Ten years ago I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”