Canadian men's speed skating earns historic first win at Junior World Championship

Luca Veeman (white skates), teammates Daniel Hall and Max Poulin celebrate Canada’s first gold medal performance in men’s team pursuit at the ISU Junior World Championships in Hachinohe, Japan. (Source: YOUTUBE / ISU SKATING)

Saskatoon’s Luca Veeman returned from a successful International Skating Union (ISU) Junior World Championships in Hachinohe, Japan, where Team Canada brought home four medals.

Veeman teamed up with Daniel Hall and Max Poulin from Calgary, having competed at Junior World’s together last year for a sixth-place finish in men’s team pursuit.

With a time of 3:49.25, the trio beat a heavily favoured Norwegian team by almost two tenths of a second. They finished nearly four seconds ahead of host Team Japan.

“I knew we had a strong team and would be in the running for a medal, but Norway has a lot of horsepower, so I wasn’t super confident we would get the win,” said Veeman, men’s team pursuit gold medallist.

“Crossing the line and seeing number one was an incredible feeling.”

The win gives Team Canada its first-ever gold medal in the event, and the first podium since 2016.

While Canada missed the podium in most solo competitions, Veeman says the skaters showed up for the team events on the final weekend.

“Team Canada kind of showed up and showed out on the last day,” he said. “I was also able to be part of the team sprint which got second, and the girls had a great team sprint as well, and managed to get the bronze. So it definitely was a great last day.”

On top of the men’s team medals, the women’s team sprint trio took home Team Canada’s first ever podium finish. Daniel Hall went on to win gold in the men’s mass start.

Veeman and the rest of Team Canada are preparing for their final two competitions of the season in Calgary.