SALT LAKE CITY — Calgary’s Ted-Jan Bloemen broke the world record long track speedskating record in the 10,000 metres in 12 minutes 36.30 seconds on Sunday at an ISU World Cup event, almost five seconds faster than the previous mark.
Bloemen beat the previous record of 12:41.69 that Sven Kramer from the Netherlands set on March 10, 2007, a performance which also took place in Salt Lake City. Bloemen’s previous personal best was 12:52.68.
"I thought I had a world record in my legs", said Bloemen. "But there was yet one pair to go (after his race) and I never thought I could win.
"The second part (of the race), although it started to hurt pretty bad, I kept thinking, ‘OK, just stay with yourself. Keep doing what you’re doing"’.
Kramer, who was skating in the last pair with his teammate Jorrit Bergsma, immediately following the one including Bloemen, wasn’t able to defend his record and finished second with a time of 12:44.26. Bergsma won the bronze medal (12:53.99).
Dutch-born with his father from New Brunswick, Ted-Jan Bloemen has dual citizenship and moved to Canada during the summer of 2014 to train with the national team at Calgary’s Olympic Oval.