Laurent Dubreuil’s last participation in a team sprint was in February 2020 when his team was disqualified at the World Distance Championships in Salt Lake City.

The discipline was removed from the calendar in 2021, shortened due to the pandemic, and then no longer in the program in the Olympic year.

On Sunday at the Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Heerenveen, Dubreuil teamed up with Christopher Fiola and Connor Howe and finished seventh. The Canadian trio clocked a time of 1:20.58 and saw the Chinese win in 1:19.55. The Dutch (+0.27s) and the Americans (+0.35s) also made it onto the podium.

“It was a pretty disastrous race for us today. We struggled to implement our game plan and we didn’t run well enough to win a medal. I think we have the strength and the staff to get there,” analyzed Laurent Dubreuil.

Picking up speed early in the race, the two Quebecers eventually overtook Howe, who was tasked with bringing up the rear. The Albertan, who was a slightly earlier 1500m gold medalist, was unable to capitalize on the pull of his teammates.

“He’s one of the best in the world but no chance of a result running alone in a team event like that. We got it wrong and we’ll learn from all of that so he can get on the train next time,” said Dubreuil, who, despite his 500m gold medal, insisted on underlining his disappointment at what happened in his other two races of the season had milked at the weekend.

“I won the 500m and I’m a world champion, so it’s automatically a good World Cup. For various reasons, my races have not always been as I would have liked. Especially in the 1000m where I had the potential to win a medal. I can’t wait to get that distance again,” concluded the Lévisien.

The next World Championships will take place in Calgary from December 8th to 10th. But first, the long-distance speed skaters have a date for the Four Continents Championships December 1-3 in Quebec City.