Canada's Will Dutton and Ivanie Blondin continued their fast start to the World Cup long track speed skating season with bronze medals in races Friday in Salt Lake City.
You can watch more speed skating competition from Salt Lake City on Saturday as part of RBC Sports Day in Canada (2-6 p.m. ET), and more specifically, Road to the Olympic Games, which begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Dutton, who retired from racing in June, but came back when Speed Skating Canada hired Kevin Crockett as the sprint coach, finished third behind the Russian rocket, Pavel Kulizhnikov who became the first skater to go under 34 seconds in the 500, with a time of 33.98. Kulizhnikov had previously bettered Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon's 2007 world record last weekend in Calgary, skating 34.00.
Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov takes off his skates after lowering his own world record in long track speed skating's 500 metre race at the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City. Kulizhnikov skated 33.98 to smash the 34-second barrier. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)
"I understood the ice was faster here, so I wanted to skate faster," Kulizhnikov said through an interpreter.
Kulizhnikov grinned ear-to-ear during a post-race ceremony to honour the moment. The Utah Olympic Oval has an enormous plaque at the entrance that lists the world records and those set at the Oval. Kulizhnikov stood on a lift and removed his name with the old record and replaced it with the new mark.
Mitchell Whitmore of the United States was second in 34.19, followed by Dutton in 34.35. Canada's Alex Boisvert-Lacroix was seventh, with a time of 34.44.
Dutton, from Humboldt, Sask. had a bronze medal last Friday in Calgary, his first World Cup medal, and followed up with a silver in the second 500 metre race at the Calgary Olympic Oval.
Canada's Ivanie Blondin added a bronze to her World Cup collection in the women's 5000, placing third behind Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic and Natalya Voronina of Russia.
Blondin, from Ottawa, picked up two bronze medals at the opening event of the season in Calgary, in the mass start and in the team sprint.
Other winners on the first of three days of competition in Utah were Hong Zhang of China in the women's 500 and Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands in the men's 1500.
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