Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen captures first speedskating World Cup win of season
BERLIN — Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen claimed his first victory in the men’s 5,000 metres on Saturday at a speedskating World Cup.
Bloemen, of Calgary, won the race in six minutes 15.84 seconds, edging New Zealand’s Peter Michael by 0.81 seconds for the win. Jorrit Bergsma (6:17.99) of the Netherlands took bronze.
“I struggled earlier this season so it was great to come up with a top-level race today,” said Bloemen. “It’s always hard if you are not skating the way you want to skate, it messes with your confidence. This gold medal win is really great going into the world single distance championships; the second half of the season is the perfect time to get a boost of confidence like this.”
It was Bloemen’s third medal of the season and first gold. The 30-year-old skater had three World Cup medals last year and finished fifth in the 5,000 metres at the world championships.