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.

De Haitre has three career gold medals in the team sprint event and won bronze in the 1,000 at the World Cup Finals in Germany last year. He said a change to his pre-race approach has helped him get results.

“Before as soon as I would find out who I was with in my pair, I would get nervous because of who they were and I would worry about where they would be on the ice,” he said. “This time I told myself to really focus on what I needed to do in the race and that if I see him, I see him. And if I don’t, it’s a good race.”

It was Morrison’s first podium appearance since suffering a stroke last April. He was also in a motorcycle accident last year.

“Three World Cups (this season) and a podium, this is unbelievable considering not just my injuries but also the setbacks and necessary steps to get here,” Morrison said. “They are all big steps and all surprising to me.”

In the men’s 500, Dutch skater Daidai Ntab won in 34.52, just 0.05 seconds ahead of Ruslan Murashov of Russia. Kulizhnikov was 0.04 seconds further back.

Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, Que., was the top Canadian in ninth.

Japan’s Miho Takagi won the women’s 1,000 ahead of Dutch skaters Jorien ter Mors, 0.11 seconds off Takagi’s pace, and Marrit Leenstra, who was 0.57 seconds behind. Kaylin Irvine of Calgary was the top Canadian in 16th.

Japan also won the women’s team pursuit. The Canadian team did not finish due to a fall.

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With files from The Associated Press.