Fort St. John Elks to Host Long Track Canada Cup 1 Speed Skating

More than 75 long track speed skaters from across Canada will be competing this weekend, December 6 - 8, at the Pomeroy Sport Centre for the Long Track Canada Cup #1.  

It marks the first time that the Canada Cup in Fort St. John has been added to the calendar of the International Skating Union (ISU), a recognition of the standard of the speed skating oval in Fort St. John. 

The biggest contingents are from Alberta, Quebec and British Columba, while Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan complement the range of participating provinces.  

Participating athletes will use the first Canada Cup of the season for ranking purposes. It is an excellent opportunity to see how they stack up against their competition on the national scene.  The complete roster of competitors will not be known until after registration closes on Sunday. It is expected that quite a few national team members and juniors will be participating, thus ensuring an exciting competition.  

Some of the participating athletes have recently returned from the Fall ISU World Cups in Europe.  Also re-appearing are Brooklyn McDougall, Abigail McCluskey, Alexa Scott, Hayden Mayeur, Conner Howe and Cooper Emin, who have previously skated in Fort St. John. They recently competed at the Junior World Cup in the Netherland and earned an impressive 12 medals for Canada.

The Peace region will be well represented by Sidney Bennie, Brooke Braun, Jacob Graham, Nicholas Guliov, Kieran Hanson, Amanda Mitchell, Joshua Telizyn and Hannah North. 

Racing starts on Friday at 10 am with athletes competing in the 500m and 1500m distances; on Saturday skaters will race in the 1000m, 3000m and 5000m distances.  On Sunday races start at 9 am with 500m and 1000m distances followed by 10-16 lap mass start races.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend and admission is free. In preparation for the event, the oval will be closed for public use between December 1 and 8.

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Media Contacts:

Darren Guliov
Fort St. John Elks – Meet Coordinator
250-271-0528

Ryan Harvey
City of Fort St. John - Communication Coordinator
250-794-3313