More medals for Alberta’s Muller, McDougall in long track speed skating
RED DEER, AB – Team Alberta continued to earn medals on the fourth day of competition at the 2019 Canada Games with three medals in Long Track Speed Skating.
Alberta now has 17 medals and currently sits in second place of the medal standings behind Quebec.
Kaleb Muller, 20, of Cranford, Alberta took the gold medal in the 5000-metre distance at the Long Track Speed Skating events at Great Chief Park with a Canada Games record-setting performance. Muller’s final time came out to 6:52.95.
Joshua Hathaway, 19, of the Medicine Hat Speed Skating Club, the reigning Canadian Junior Champion in the event, won the bronze medal with a time of 7:00.65.
“It feels amazing. It’s been a dream of mine for a while now to get an individual gold medal. I’ve been working hard for four years, and it feels great,” said Muller, who finished 8th at the 2018 ISU World Junior Championships in Salt Lake City.
“I knew the times I could do. I expected to be fast today. I know the record would be attainable and wasn’t expecting anything else.”
Muller earned his third medal of these 2019 Canada Winter Games. He won the gold medal in the Men’s Team Pursuit on Sunday, and the silver medal in the 1500-metre on Saturday.
The 20-year-old from the Lethbridge/Taber area competed for Team Alberta at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in speed skating and the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Mountain Biking.
In the women’s 3000-metre event, Brooklyn McDougall earned her fourth medal of the 2019 Games, this time a bronze medal. She skated the distance with a time of 4:44.28.
McDougall thus far won two gold medals, a silver medal, and a bronze medal, delivering podium performances in each of the race she started.
The 20-year-old grew up playing hockey in Calgary, with the goal of one day representing Alberta at the Canada Winter Games, and Canada at the Olympic Games. However, at age 15, she was introduced to long track speed skating and instantly fell in love with the sport.
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