LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK – Canadian success continued Wednesday night at the Lake Placid Olympic Oval where the men’s team won the bronze medal in the team pursuit event at the 2023 FISU World University Winter Games.

Taking the start along with Japan in the third and last pairing of the event, the Canadian trio made of David La Rue (Laval), Hubert Marcotte (Laval) and Josh Telizyn (Thompson Rivers) completed the event in a time of 4:11.28 minutes. The Japanese won the event, ahead of silver medallists from the Republic of Korea.

This marks Canada’s seventh medal at these Games and the country’s fourth in long track speed skating. La Rue (bronze, 1,000m), Laura Hall (gold, 3,000m) and Rose-Anne Grenier (bronze, 3,000m) are the other speed skating medallists for Canada in Lake Placid.

“We have worked hard for this medal since we are not used to skating this event. We are more accustomed to shorter distances. We achieved a great race, and everyone did what each had to do. We gave our all and we even came close to win the gold! It was super fun to be on the podium with these guys!”

David La Rue

Initially planned for 10 a.m. the team pursuit event was postponed to 1 p.m. and again to 6 p.m. due to unfavourable weather since the Lake Placid Oval is located outdoors.

“Conditions were tough for everyone, but there’s nothing we could do about it. We had to adapt, and we arrived ready on the starting line.”

Hubert Marcotte

“It just feels awesome. Watching the women be successful in the 3000 meters, it was very inspiring. We knew we had to skate safe, and we had to prepare to suffer, and I think we executed that very well tonight.

Josh Telizyn

The women’s team was not as fortunate. On its way to the podium with fewer than two laps to complete, the trio made of Rose-Anne Grenier (Laval), Laura Hall (Calgary) and Laurie Cayer (Laval) fell, wiping away their medal hopes.

Canada will be back in action on Thursday with the men’s and women’s 500-metre events and the mixed relays.