Saturday, December 1, 2001
Making strides
By CAMERON MAXWELL -- Calgary Sun
Before his 1,000-metre race at the Canadian Championships yesterday, Jean-Rene Belanger predicted he was going to clock a Canadian Olympic standard.
"I'm feeling pretty good right now," he said before taking to the Olympic Oval ice.
The 20-year-old was true to his word, beating the standard of one minute, 10.35 seconds with an outstanding clocking of 1:10.96, which gives the Fleurimont, Que., long-track speedskater a chance to compete for a spot at the Olympics.
The time gave him his second standard, which means he'll be back in Calgary next month gunning for a shot at Salt Lake City at the Canadian Olympic trials.
"I feel so good, it feels really good. Now I'll be at qualifiers and it's done," said Belanger as the tension slipped off his shoulders.
"Now I'm in and it's nice."
He beat Sterling Sobczak (1:11.01), who was second, and third-place finisher Peter Volcic (1:11.15).
Belanger's time was a personal best as he won the 1,000-metre and also took the 500-metre with another personal best, finishing in 35.86 seconds.
Now Belanger is going to finish this weekend's competition and get some much-needed rest in anticipation of Olympic trials.
"I've got three weeks that I can just rest and after that rebuild and work on some stuff because (the 1,000-metre) certainly wasn't a perfect race. On the last lap, I was kind of tired and on the last half-lap, I was a little high on my skates," said Belanger, who skated his first standard at last weekend's Can-Am event.
While Belanger basks in the knowledge he'll compete for an Olympic spot, Danielle Wotherspoon is still working on getting herself up to Canadian standards.
Wotherspoon, the younger sister of 1,000-metre world record holder Jeremy Wotherspoon, finished second yesterday in both the 500- and 1,000-metre sprints, behind Shannon Rempel, who won both races. Quebec's Marie-Josee Ares-Pilon finished third in both races.
"I'm still about two seconds off in the 1,000-metre and almost two seconds off the 500-metre (standard)," said Wotherspoon, 21, a sprinter.
In an effort to increase her speed, Wotherspoon is trying to improve the technical aspect of her skating as she looks to stay on the Canadian development team and move on to the national squad.
"There's a lot of things I'm working on right now and it takes a while for them to make you faster. Actually, sometimes at first, you go slower," says Wotherspoon.
A big thing for her is getting better at the sound of the gun.
"I'm really working on my start. My starts are pretty slow and that is definitely what I need to work on the most."
Meanwhile, Sobczak finished second in the 500-metre with a time of 36.03. James Monson took third with a 36.16 clocking.
In the all-round competition, Tara Risling, fresh from the World Cup circuit in Europe, sits in first. She skated a 2:00.25 in the 1,500-metre, less than half a second off the time standard of 1:59.86.
She also leads in the 500-metre with a time of 40.77.
Cindy Overland finished second in the 1,500-metre with 2:00.82 and Chelsey Parker took third with 2:02.50. Brittany Schussler finished second in the 500-metre with 41.11 and Parker took third with 41.61.
2002 Games Long Track Speed Skating Coverage
