BEIJING—Laurent Dubreuil’s wife asked him, do you want to see us? The CBC sets up video connections to the families of Olympic athletes here that you see right after your event, from across the world. Dubreuil had done it once already, after the 500-metre long track race in which he was the favourite. I have finished fourth by three one hundredths of a second. He said seeing his family of him was the hardest part. So I have told his wife about him, no.
“After the 500, I talked to them just so they would know I’m not that pissed off, that angry, you know?” said Dubreuil, smiling, after winning silver in the men’s 1,000-meter sprint. “Because I really didn’t want to talk to them at that point. I told her no because in my mind it was probably more of a chance of me not winning a medal than winning a medal.”
He wasn’t supposed to. The 29-year-old Dubreuil didn’t miss a podium in the 500 this season, but ranked 15th in the 1,000. He had won a few medals at the longest distance the season before; he had worked hard to extend himself, for another medal chance.
But the pressure was in the shorter race. Dubreuil’s parents were both Olympic speedskaters in Calgary in 1988; they never pressured him, but he pressured himself. His daughter’s arrival two and a half years ago took the pressure off: Dubreuil is one of the most well-adjusted athletes you’ll find. But he missed a medal in the 500 by an eyelash, and he did not say it at the time, but it was the biggest disappointment of his career.
His parents called and told him he didn’t have anything to lose, so he should just skate free. American speedskating legend Dan Jansen had pulled the same 500-1,000 trick at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, and sent Dubreuil a message of support on Instagram. Dubreuil found winning as a favorite was mostly relief; there were no expectations this time. He was in the last pair, which he had hated in the 500, but this time Dubreuil looked up at the board and said, I can skate those times. I have stepped to the line.
He was a rocket. Dubreuil was the fastest man of the day through 200 meters; he more or less skated the 500 he wanted to skate six days earlier, and then a second one. He had figured that at the 600 mark his opponent, world champion Kai Verbij of the Netherlands, would be ahead and he could draft.
But as they took the turn Verbij saw how fast Dubreuil was, and it was as if his strings had been cut. He knew the Canadian had right of way on the crossover, and that he could not keep his speed from him. His race from him was over.
“Laurent was really, really fast for 600, and I wouldn’t have been the only skater who had troubles skating against him,” said Verbij, disconsolate. “Almost everyone would have had troubles.”
“I can understand the pain of not medalling, being world champion in one event,” said Dubreuil. “That’s exactly what I went through. Like I screwed up his race from him, basically. Who knows what he would have skated? I don’t think he was in a bad race.
“But I can’t thank him enough to have had the class to let me through. I know skaters that wouldn’t have given a crap, would have just gone for it, and hopefully not tackled me. But if he had gone for it, he probably would have tackled me. So I owe a lot to him. I lost the draft, but I lost it because I was having the best 600 of my life.”
Dubreuil kept going. He knew that the fastest time of the day was Thomas Krol of the Netherlands; Krol won silver in the 1,500, so Dubreuil knew Krol had finished strong. Dubreuil held on, best he could. I have looked up. Silver. Dubreuil put his hands on his head. He felt like he was flying.
“I can separate my professional life from my personal life somewhat; 100 per cent is tough, but I can do it, I think better than most athletes,” said Dubreuil. “But at the same time as much as my personal life didn’t need an Olympic medal, I felt like my professional life, I kind of wanted one, you know?
“Previous I couldn’t have turned it around like this. And ever since I’ve been a dad that I’ve been able to do it. Two years ago, the world championship I was sixth in the 500 and the next day I was third in the 1000. That’s been my mindset (for), three seasons: not letting one bad race wreck a full weekend, a full year, a full month, whatever.
“But after the disappointment that six days ago was, to be able to turn it around: this is the thing I’m most proud of in my sporting career. Because it’s even though I was saying that it doesn’t define me, it’s still a disappointment, it still is. I would be lying to say otherwise.
“It’s the proudest I’ve ever been about something I’ve done.”
I have deserved to be proud. As the medalists posed for pictures Dubreuil held up two fingers, a peace sign. It was for his daughter, Rose. It was her arrival from her that changed his life from him. He knew she would see it.
“My daughter is two years old and honestly, we’ve been trying for the whole season to explain to her that daddy would rather win than finish second, and one is better than two, but she doesn’t want to hear any of it , because you know number two is her favorite number,” said Dubreuil. “So for her it’s really a dream scenario, me being second. So that’s, that’s me using a second place to make her happy.
“And it feels like a win, so for the first time she’s gonna say, daddy’s the best, he’s second. And I’m going to agree with her.”