Blake Skjellerup
Winter Olympian Blake Skjellerup smashed a New Zealand
record but could not quite claim a clean sweep at the national
speed skating championships in Dunedin at the weekend.
Skjellerup's record came in the senior men's 500m, when he
whizzed around the short track in 44.044sec.
He was a fraction ahead of close rival Mark Jackson
(44.259sec), with Bradley Tuhi (Canterbury) 6sec further
back.
Skjellerup's victories in the 1000m and 1500m were equally
tight.
He posted 1min 40.924sec for the 1000m, with Jackson second
in 1min 41.091 sec, and 2min 42.638sec for the 1500m, with
Jackson second in 2min 42.792sec.
But Skjellerup, who is based in Canada and was competing in
New Zealand for the first time in four years, could not sweep
the competition.
Jackson won the longest race, the 3000m, with a time of 5min
26.896sec, nearly 12sec clear of Skjellerup.
That would have been some consolation for Jackson, who missed
out to Skjellerup for a place at the Vancouver Olympics in
February.
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