The last day of the world cup in SLC started early. Jessica Hewitt had 3 rounds of 1500m races to get through in order to get back into the world cup part of the event. After a straight forward first round, she squeaked out a nail-bitting semi-final to qualify for the repechage final by only 3 one-hundredths of a second! Talk about giving me a stress attack! In the final, she skated like a pro, dodged some falling skaters and made it on again to the world cup.
In the semi-final of the world cup 1500's, Jessica was skating the race of her life. She was in control, confident and executing a strategy that was clear she was going for the win. Unfortunately, the fatigue from the morning rounds took a toll and she was missing the energy to finish as strong as she started. It was clear however that she was not intimidated by anyone.
Jessica Gregg was competing in the 500m on the final day. Her fast start and quick speed earned her a spot in the A-final and a new Canadian record as well! In the A-final she was slightly outnumbered, up against 3 Chinese skaters. The race started fast and Gregg slipped into 3rd around the first corner. 2 laps later, an attempt by the 3rd Chinese skater to pass came up short as Gregg strongly closed "the door" and the Chinese skater was disqualified. Gregg earned a bronze medal in the race, her second individual world cup medal of her career. Meng Wang of China broke the world record in this race as well as taking the gold.
Michael Gilday was competing in the 1500m semi-final and was executing an extremely well planned race. Easy passing, smooth speed and a great awareness of his opponents had him in qualifying position with a lap to go. A slight tightening up of his track in the last lap allowed J.R. Celski of the US to work his way by Gilday on the outside and sneak the last spot in the A-final from Gilday. It was a spectacular race that just came up short in the last moments of the race. Michael was also a part of the relay team in the heats, and thus picks up another relay bronze that the Canadians earned in the A-final, just behind the Koreans and the US team.
The Jessica's went on to race the A-final of the 3000m relay. The race also started incredibly fast and the Canadians found themselves in 3rd place cruising along not far from the Koreans and Chinese. The pressure and speed seemed too much for the US team to handle as they went down near the middle of the race. Canada held strong, making great exchanges and working very well as a team. They won bronze in the relay, earning first-time world cup medals for Jessica Hewitt, Marianne St-Gelais, Marie-Andree Mendes-Campeau and Valerie Maltais.
Final Day summary:
Jessica Gregg - Bronze in the 500m, Bronze in the relay
Jessica Hewitt - 13th in the 1500m, Bronze in the relay
Michael Gilday - 10th in the 1500m, Bronze in the relay
On to Vancouver!
JC
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