(Calgary) In 2010 Canadian men's speed skating sprint coach Sprint Mike Crow was working with two World Sprint Champions, legends in the speed skating world. Crowe's focus was on getting speed skating icon Jeremy Wotherspoon and sidekick Mike Ireland back to their world beating best for the home town Olympics. It did not happen.
This season Crowe's sprint team is mostly raw and unproven. Five male sprinters skated for the Canadian Olympic team in Vancouver. Only one of them is still wearing the maple leaf, Jamie Gregg. The others have all retired or at very least taken the year off. Jeremy Wotherspoon is shadowing Crowe at the Oval in Calgary working with the young Canadian team and getting ready to coach in Europe. Mike Ireland is attending classes at the U of C. Kyle Parrott is working on his engineering not his skating. Francoise Roberge just announced his retirement. That leaves relative newcomer Jamie Gregg as the only Olympic veteran on the Canadian sprint team.
It seems strange that no one has made note of this changing of the guard but then it is an off year; that is the next Olympics are four years off. Who's left besides Gregg? Veterans who have not been able to get past the old guard and rookies who were too young to get it done.
The five fastest 500 skaters, as the team closes in on the World Cup trials are; Jamie Gregg (1985), William Dutton (1989), Vincent LaBrie (1982), Richard MacLennan (1991), and Muncef Ouardi (1986). The Olympics are four years away and the battle to represent Canada in 2014 in Sochi Russia starts October 21st in Calgary. The youngsters and not so young have their shot.
They have some very very big shoes to fill. Good luck gentlemen, may the fastest men win.
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