CALGARY — Ted-Jan Blumen and Graham Fish both made their return to action at PerformFest, the 10,000-meter speed skating event.
After Fisch won the world title over silver medalist Blumen in 2020, Canada’s men lost their mojo in the grueling 25-lap race for a variety of reasons.
The Olympics, which had been hoped to be held in Beijing two years ago, could not be held.
So Blumen’s silver medal and Fisch’s bronze medal behind Italian winner Davide Ghiotto on Sunday at this year’s world championships in Calgary marked the Canadian’s 10-kilometre comeback.
Fish, of Moose Jaw, South Carolina, returned to the podium for the first time since winning in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2020.
“I was happy to finally be on the podium after not being on the podium for four years,” said the 26-year-old.
The coronavirus outbreak hampered Fish’s preparations for Beijing, leaving him in sixth place.
She was later diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which Fish manages with medication and regular blood tests.
“Luckily we were able to catch it,” Fish said. “Five years from now, things could have been much worse.
“As you can see, I definitely feel a lot more energized now. My fitness level is back.”
Bluemen, the 2018 Olympic champion, felt the 10k energy flowing again just over a year ago when he ran a time of 12:33.75 at the Calgary World Cup.
Blumen, a Dutch-Canadian, moved to Calgary in 2014 and finished third at the 2023 World Championships.
The 37-year-old admits he has not been able to cope well with the challenges of training during the coronavirus pandemic.
He also fell ill while preparing for Beijing. During the 10km run, Blumen put his finger on his throat to signal to his coach that he didn’t have a sore throat today.
“I was 35 years old. I wasn’t having much fun and I didn’t want to retire because of that because I love this sport so much,” Blumen said.
“I wanted to find my passion. I wanted to enjoy speed skating again. With that motivation, I got back into speed skating, changed my training program a little bit, and came back swinging.”
Blumen is married with two young children, Fine and Tias, and has adjusted his training to fit his changing life.
“I found that as I started living with my family and slowly got older, it became harder to find quality recovery time,” Blumen said. “Next to training, recovery is also very important. If you do a lot of hard training and don’t recover enough, your training will not be efficient and you will be digging yourself a hole.
“We’ve found some strategies to deal with it in a better way.”
The host team, Canada, won 10 medals at the four-day World Single Distance Championships, the most ever by a country.
“It’s really an exciting culmination of the season to put on a show for the people in the stands and teach them about speed skating and how great our country is at this sport and how they can excel and succeed on the international stage.”Canada People coach Mark Wilde said:
However, Canada missed out on the gold medal in the individual race at the Olympic Oval. Two athletes participated in the men’s and women’s team sprints, which are not Olympic events.
The Netherlands remains the dominant nation in the sport, winning 13 medals, including six golds.
American Jordan Stoltz repeated his feat with three gold medals in three men’s individual races. The 19-year-old prodigy became the first man to achieve it in Heerenveen, Netherlands, last year.
Stolz won the 1,500 meters on Sunday, earning him his second Triple Crown.
“I think winning twice is much more impressive,” Stolz said. “I think the feeling last year was a little more surreal because it was my first world championship medal, but it’s also kind of crazy to do it again.”
Ghiotto was crowned 10km world champion with a career-best time of 12:38.81. Bluemen finished in 12:47.01 and Fish in 12:48.61.
In the women’s 5,000m, Joy Buehne and Eileen Schouten made it a one-two for the Netherlands.
Martina Sabliková of the Czech Republic finished third and Isabelle Weidemann of Ottawa finished second behind Schouten in the 3km to start the championship in fifth place.
Japan’s Miho Takagi won the women’s 1,500 meters ahead of second place Mei Han (China) and third place Beune.
Keld Nuis of the Netherlands and Peder Konshaug of Norway were second and third, respectively, behind Stolz in the men’s 1,500 meters.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2024.
Donna Spencer, Canadian Press