Canadian long-tracker Vincent de Haitre wins World Cup gold in 1,000 metres
ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Canadian long-track speedskater Vincent de Haitre won his first individual gold medal at the senior level Saturday by finishing first in the men’s 1,000 metres at the ISU World Cup.
De Haitre, from Cumberland, Ont., took top spot in one minute 08.90 seconds, finishing just ahead of reigning world champion Pavel Kulizhnikov of Russia (1:08.99) and Japan’s Takuro Oda (1:09.06).
“It’s still sinking in,” de Haitre said. “I’m super happy about it. I was thinking about all the stuff I’ve been working on all week and I tried to apply it as much as I could. During the last lap, I got a little bit nervous. There is still room for improvement, but I’m still incredibly happy about it.”
The Canadian team of Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary, Jordan Belchos of Toronto and Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., added silver in the men’s team pursuit in 3:44.95. Japan won gold in 3:44.10 and Poland took the bronze in 3:45.04.