Denny Morrison Website

By Kevin Mitchell - BC Local News

Published: February 13, 2010 3:00 PM

Updated: February 13, 2010 4:04 PM

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C. competes in the 5,000m speed skating event at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Saturday afternoon. JENNA HAUCK/BLACK PRESS

Denny Morrison opened his second Winter Games by placing 18th in the 5,000-metre long track speed skate race Saturday at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

A specialist in the upcoming 1,000m and 1,500m events, the 24-year-old from Fort St. John, by way of Richmond, was paired with American Trevor Marscicano in the second draw of 14.

Morrison, wearing sunglasses and sporting a styling white, red and blue skin-tight suit, clocked in at six minutes and 33.77 seconds, His 2,600m split was 2.53.02.

The 6-foot-, 178-pounder struck silver at the World Championships in the 1,000m last year on the same track, and pocketed a silver medal in team pursuit at the 2006 Torino Olympics.

Morrison, who took up the sport at age three, won a silver medal in the 1,500m and a bronze in the 1,000m at the 2008 worlds in Nagano, Japan.

Sven Kramer of the Netherlands, a massive favourite in the 5,000m, struck gold while narrowly setting an Olympic record, in 6.14.60.

Kramer, 24, was paired with American star Shani Davis in the 11th pairing of the day, and posted a phenomenal penultimate (second-to-last) lap of 30.5 seconds, much to the delight of orange-clad Dutch supporters.

Lee Seung-Hoon of Korea earned the silver medal, in 6.19.95, while Russia’s Ivan Skobrev bagged the bronze, in 6.18.05.

Regina’s Lucas Makowsky, at 22, the youngest member of Canada’s speedskating team, finished 13th, in 6.28.71.

Speedskating takes place on a 400-metre rink with the athletes skating counter-clockwise around the oval and changing lanes once per lap to equalize the distance covered. The skater in the outside lane has the right-of-way at the crossover if the skaters arrive at the changeover point at the same time.