Vancouver World Single Distance Championships

Written by T Dobbin
The racing in the Richmond Olympic Oval has been spectacular so far throughout the first two days of the Championships. The North Americans have been dominated the men’s middle distances and once again Sven Kramer of the Netherlands won the 5 kilometer today.

We an upset in the ladies 1500 meter today with the Canadian Kristina Groves winning the event but getting disqualified for crossing the line in the corner. Therefore Anni Freisinger won the ladies 1500 meter.

Tomorrow Shane Dobbin from New Zealand will be racing the 10,000 meter race. The program for tomorrow is the ladies 1,000 meter finals followed by the mens 10,000 meters and the final event of the day is the ladies 5,000 meter. At 17:30 this evening the draws were completed for tomorrows races and Shane Dobbin will be taking the start at approximately 13:30 in the first of 8 pairs in the mens event. Shane Dobbin will be paired with Russian skater Ivan Skobrev who skated the 1500 meter and 5,000 meter events in Richmond, finishing 6th today in the 5,000 meter. Skobrev has skated some fast times this season so it's a good pairing for Shane to be with tomorrow having someone to chase throughout the race. Keep posted for the results from tomorrows races.

For all results and pairing please go to: www.isu.org

Vancouver World Single Distance Championships

Written by T Dobbin
Today was the final day of official team training before the racing starts tomorrow at lunch. The day started with every athlete going to the doping test area to give a blood sample to be tested today and given the results tomorrow. The blood samples were done by the ISU in accordance with the rules and the World Anti Doping agency.

The training this morning was full of skaters. Everyone wanting to skate on the ice before they race tomorrow and over the next few days. From now on in, the ice training is early in the morning or late afternoon to work around the competition schedule. The first event of the schedule is the mens 1500 meter with a total of 24 skaters. The second event tomorrow is the ladies 3000 meter with again the total 24 skaters.

Shane Dobbin is still two days away from racing his event the 10,000 meter on Saturday. He will be training over the next few days getting used to the ice here on the Richmond Oval. It's not the fastest ice is the World but most people are expecting the times to be similar to Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen in which Shane has been training on all year.

Keep posted for news from tomorrows events.

Vancouver World Single Distance Championships

Written by T Dobbin
Late last night Shane Dobbin from New Zealand arrived in Vancouver for the World Single Distance Championships. It was a good flight from London to Vancouver getting upgraded to business class and being able to lay down on the new flat beds. It was very comfortable and got good rest before arriving into Vancouver.

All the teams are here in Vancouver now. Most of the skaters went training this morining and Shane Dobbin will be stepping on the ice this afternoon for his first training and getting an easy skate under his belt after stepping off the plane. The weather is very cold at the moment. Waking up to -6 degrees with the wind-chill making it approximately -12 degrees. At least the sun is out and as the day goes on the warmth will set in with a maximum temperature of 3 degrees today.

Keep posted for more updates during the week from the World Single Distance Championships in Vancouver.