Netherlands' Jutta Leerdam, social media star, Olympic medalist and reigning world champion, will be conspicuous by her absence from the Long Track Speed Skating World Cup, February 2-4 in Quebec.
In a relationship with social media personality, actor and American boxer Jake Paul, Leerdam, who is followed by 4.3 million people on Instagram and has 791,000 subscribers on Tik Tok, wants to keep the focus on the World Cup starting from February 15 in Calgary will be open to ages 18 and up, avoiding travel and staying at altitude. Paul has 25.8 million people following him on Instagram.
Photo from Jake Paul's Instagram account
The reigning world champion over 1000 m and silver medalist in Beijing in February 2022 over the same distance, the skater from the professional team Jumbo Visma won two stages of the World Cup this season and took 2nd place last Sunday in Salt Lake City. She is in 4th place overall, even though she skipped the stage in Poland at the beginning of December.
His compatriot Patrick Roest, who leads the overall standings over 5000 m, will also be conspicuous by his absence for similar reasons. He has won four victories in five 5000 meter starts this World Cup season.
Although he would have preferred the two big names to be part of the World Cup's grand return to Quebec for the first time since March 1992, Robert Dubreuil believes it will have no impact on viewership.
“For people who know a little less about speed skating, the 500m is the most exciting and easiest event to sell,” explained the general director of the Quebec Speed Skating Federation and the big man organizing the committee. It's very good for us that we have two 500 meter races. It’s candy.”
Only a few hundred tickets were available on Monday for the Saturday and Sunday events. The tickets on the mezzanine and on the ice have all found buyers.
Local star
The local hero Laurent Dubreuil is one of the big favorites in the 500 meter run. After winning the title the last two years, Dubreuil is currently in 2nd place in the standings, closed the gap with his 2nd place in Salt Lake City and is now just 37 points behind the Japanese Wataru Morishige, who has won a few times Racing has become slower after a successful first half of the season.
The Current American Phenomenon
American phenomenon Jordan Stolz, winner in Salt Lake City and reigning world champion in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m, will be in attendance. “Except for Gao [Tingyu]19 of the top 20 skaters in the 500m will be in attendance, Dubreuil said. This is promising since Quebec is the fastest ice in the world and Heerenveen is at sea level, among other things. The presence of pride will enrich the spectacle.
In Salt Lake City, the 19-year-old American set a new world mark with a time of 1 minute and 5.37 seconds, particularly in the 1000-meter run.
As this is the final World Cup stop of the season, the champions will be crowned at the Intact Assurance Ice Centre. In addition to Dubreuil, who starts in the 500 m, Valérie Maltais takes first place in the mass start and is in 3rd place in the 3000 m.
Another big absence
The Chinese Gao Tingyu, Olympic champion in the 500 m at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, has drawn a line this season. He missed the Salt Lake City stage and also confirmed on his social networks that he will not be in Quebec or Calgary at the World Championships.
Gao, a big star in his country, took a year off last year after his Olympic victory and also missed the first two and last two stages of the World Cup this year.
Skaters have until midnight today To. There could be a few additions, but Leerdam and Roest haven't shown any signs of life at the time of writing.