Denny Morrison returning to competition at Canada Cup

Olympic speed skating medallist Denny Morrison is set to compete for the first time this weekend since his motorcycle accident in May 2015. 

The 30-year-old will return to competition at the Canada Cup Olympic Oval Finale, starting Thursday in Calgary.

Morrison will be one of the 196 Canadians along with athletes from the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, United States, Japan, China, Mongolia, New Zealand, Scotland and India, to take part in this last national long track competition of the season.

Canadian participants in the event will have one last opportunity to improve their Canadian ranking and to be part of the national program next year.

Morrison will be racing the 1,000-metre event on Thursday as well as the 5,000 on Friday and 1,500 on Sunday.

"I'm excited to race and to be back at this point in my recovery," said Morrison.

"I've had to remove expectations a long time ago about everything in my recovery. As an athlete, you're setting goals and expectations, but now the expectations have shifted to focussing on the now and not expecting something that I can achieve later. That's been the process the entire recovery. I've had to be incredibly patient and try not to rush myself."

Furthermore, Morrison sees this opportunity as a stepping stone in his recovery, even if it results in a setback.

"I'm just happy now, that after ten months, I'm at the point in my recovery that I've gotten the okay from my physio to go ahead and try to race and see how it goes," added Morrison.

"To be honest, I won't be surprised if it causes some type of small setback. I've gotten very used to taking one step forward and half a step back. I'm a bit nervous and don't feel as prepared as I did for my last race a year ago, but this is a huge step in the right direction and a stepping stone to get me ready for the World Cups next fall."