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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2022 18:01:24 GMT
World Junior Speed Skating Championships - Day 1 | Innsbruck, Austria - 2022
Manitoba has a long and decorated Olympic history in long track speed skating that dates back 90 years. Winnipeg's Heather McLean and Tyson Langelaar, along with Alexa Scott of Clandeboye, Man., will compete at next month's Winter Games in Beijing. All three Manitobans were in Calgary when they were named to the 16-person Canadian Olympic long track speed skating team last Monday. Langelaar, Scott and McLean will look to join a special list of Manitobans who have earned a spot on an Olympic podium while donning the Red and White. Winnipegger Frank Stack earned one of five long track medals for Canada when he captured bronze in the men's 10,000-metre race at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. Cathy Priestner of Winnipeg became the first Canadian woman to nab an Olympic long track medal when she collected silver in the women's 500m race at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Cindy Klassen dominated the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The Winnipegger, who also earned a bronze in Salt Lake City, Utah four years earlier, collected a Games-high five medals — gold in the 1,500m, silver in both the 1,000m and team pursuit, and bronze in the 3,000m and 5,000m races.
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2022 20:48:28 GMT
World Junior Speed Skating Championships - Day 2 | Innsbruck, Austria - 2022 McLean working hard despite tough season McLean is the veteran among the contingent of Manitoba long track speed skaters. The 29-year-old competed in the women's 500m and 1,000m races at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, placing 14th and 25th, respectively. "I didn't know how to prepare for the whole Games environment, and even the competition itself was a way bigger deal than I was used to," McLean said of her 2018 experience. "I definitely put way more pressure on myself because of it being the Olympics. "I think now I just feel a lot more confident in myself and my abilities, and also more confident in handling everything extra that comes along with the Games." A veteran of the World Cup circuit, McLean, who started skating at age two, had a breakout 2015-16 campaign, capturing three individual bronze medals in 500m races. It wasn't until January 2021 that she returned to the podium, nabbing another bronze in the same distance in Heerenveen, Netherlands. McLean's performances in this season's World Cup circuit haven't been up to her standards. She sits 21st in the season-long standings. "I was quite disappointed with myself," she said. With the return to another Winter Games nearing, McLean has been training an average of six hours a day, five to six days per week. She is only scheduled to compete in the women's 500m, but McLean is eager to put her best skate forward while donning the Red and White. "It's really exciting to go to the Olympics and represent Canada, and to show everybody what we've been working so hard toward," McLean said.
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2022 21:34:35 GMT
Scott expects nervousness The youngest of all of Canada's long track speed skaters, Scott took up speed skating at the age of nine. She remembers watching the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and decided to trade in her figure skates for speed skates. "It looked more appealing on television and when I tried it I knew I loved it," Scott recalled. World Junior Speed Skating Championships - Day 3 | Innsbruck, Austria - 2022 She enjoyed a fabulous junior career that included three appearances at the world junior skating championships. Two years ago, she capped her junior career with the all-around bronze medal in Poland. Scott joined Sylvia Burka, Liz Appleby and Shannon Rempel as only the fourth Manitoba female long track speed skater to win a world junior overall medal. Now in the midst of her rookie season with the national senior World Cup team, the 20-year-old Scott is primed to make her Olympic Games debut. "Now that the team is officially announced I can say it feels exciting," she said.
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