Canada's Bloemen, Fish burst to gold, bronze at single distance speed skating worlds
Canada's men's pursuit team disqualified after finishing 1st
Canada's Ted-Jan Bloemen is trending in the right direction.
The 2018 Olympic silver medallist won gold in the men's 5,000-metre race at the single distance speed skating world championships on Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Bloemen, the 33-year-old Calgary resident, outdid 2018 champion Sven Kramer of the Netherlands by 0.54 seconds, clocking in at six minutes 4.375 seconds.
The Canadian had not made it to the top of the podium at an international event since the Olympics.
"It feels amazing to be world champion, especially after two years of struggling to compete with the best in the world," said Bloemen. "Going into this competition, I felt like I could win again. To be back in the mix at the right time, at the world championships, is really cool.
"I've had a great team, great training partners and my coaches have been relentless in getting me back on track and keeping my eyes forward. We did this together."
Kramer's second-place time of 6:04.918 outdid Canadian bronze medallist Graeme Fish, who skated a personal best time of 6:06.328.
WATCH | Bloemen speeds to 5,000 gold:
The 22-year-old Fish, from Moose Jaw, Sask., made his A-final debut in the 10,000 at the Kazakhstan World Cup in December and won bronze.
Canada's Jordan Belchos also notched a personal best by finishing fifth at 6:12.071.
Bloemen entered the world championships coming off his first individual World Cup medal this season, a silver in the men's 5,000 in Calgary. He'll look to return to the podium Saturday in the 10,000 — his gold-medal event from Pyeongchang.
"Going into the season, I made this race really important for myself," Bloemen said. "Working toward the Olympics in two years is so far away, so you've got to set goals along the way. This oval for me is really special. I skated two world records here and I thought that might be a possibility again today."
WATCH | Fish hooks bronze in 5,000:
In the men's team sprint, Gilmore Junio (Calgary), Laurent Dubreuil (Levis, Que.), Alexandre St-Jean (Quebec City) and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu (Sherbrooke, Que.) were disqualified after initially appearing to win the race. The Netherlands took gold, followed by China and Norway.
Canada also boasted three skaters in the women's 3,000, but failed to land on the podium. Ivanie Blondin's personal-best time of 6:12.071 placed her sixth, while Isabelle Weidemann was 10th (4:01.345) and Valerie Maltais finished 12th (4:02.136).
Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic finished first, followed by Carlijn Achtereekte of the Netherlands and Natalia Voronina of Russia.
Sablikova, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, won a world championship in Utah for the second time. She won gold in the 3,000 and 5,000 at the 2007 world championships.
"In two years, nobody knows what is going to happen," Sablikova said. "But I'm enjoying this moment and this medal. Now I can think about the Winter Olympics."
The Canadian women did not qualify for the team pursuit final.