Ted-Jan Bloemen's world record part of Canadian dream
Former Dutch speed skater 'really grateful for how everything's panning out' on Team Canada
Ted-Jan Bloemen is going to need to set loftier goals.
The Canadian long track speed skater set a world record and new personal best in the 10,000 metres on Saturday at a World Cup race in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A month ago, his primary goal was just to take his speed from training into races.
"Everything is going so much faster in training," Bloemen told CBC Sports at a training camp on Oct. 19. "The first step is just to show that in my races, and to execute my races good so that my results are going to be way faster than they were before."
But Bloemen just didn't go faster in Salt Lake City. He went much, much faster.
His time of 12 minutes 36.30 seconds was more than 16 seconds faster than his old personal best, which he set less than a month earlier on Oct. 23.
It was also more than five seconds faster than the previous world record, set by Dutch skater Sven Kramer in March 2007. Kramer, who now holds the records for second-, third- and fourth-fastest times in that distance, finished second. Jorrit Bergsma, also of the Netherlands, finished third.
There's irony there. Bloemen, 29, was born in Leidordorp and for years competed on the Dutch team. He had a third-place finish in the world all-around championships in 2009-10, but struggled to crack the top 10 after that; he was ranked 43rd after the 2012-13 World Cup season. In 2014, he left the Netherlands for Canada, where his father was born, and applied for citizenship.
"Back when I was skating in Holland, I felt like I kind of hit the wall and didn't really get any progress," Bloemen said. "I was always worried about my situation on the team. I always had to make sure I had a team for the next year. And I decided it was time for change and progression again.
"Right away, Speed Skating Canada always got my back, and they always supported me, and the team embraced me on the team and I really felt at home here."
Bloemen says he doesn't look back to his life in the Netherlands; his life is in Calgary now.
"I'm really grateful for how everything's panning out here," he said, wearing a white team jacket, his long blond hair pulled back, the sounds of Calgary's Olympic Oval in the background. "I'm just really proud to be part of this, part of Canada."
Bloemen competes next in Inzell, Germany, at the third World Cup race of the season. In the first World Cup race of the season, in Calgary on Nov. 13, he finished third in the 5,000.