Denny Morrison Website

Season 2008-2009

Season 2007-2008

Season 2006-2007: You can find the following articles in this archieve:

• Great end of season for Denny Morrison
• Canada’s Denny Morrison adds two more medals at long track speed skating worlds
• Denny Morrison wins silver in 1.000m at Worlds
• Denny Morrison is the King of the World!!!! (Radio)
• Poster Boy: Canada's Denny Morrison is making an imprint on the speed skating world
• Canada ends succesfull World Cup speed skating season with two more medals
• Canada’s Denny Morrison wins first gold at speed skating World Cup
• Morrison, Klassen and Nesbitt reach podium at Speed Skating Worlds
• Canada wins pursuit gold at speed skating World Cup, bronze for Klassen and Morrison
• First World Sprints succes for Denny Morrison
• Denny Morrison: ups and downs of a Canadian Speed Skater
• Young and ambitious: Canadian speedskaters looking forward to Vancouver 2010

After continuously showing progress throughout this season, it all came together for Denny Morrison at the two final competitions of the season, when he earned his first World Cup gold in Calgary, and was able to add two more silver medals and a bronze medal at the World Single Distances Championships in Salt Lake City, along with several personal bests in the short distances. During a well-deserved break Morrison reflects on these last successful races and talks about his plans for the very near future.

By Jolanda Abbes, originally written for  www.speedskating-online.com

Read more --->>>

Date posted: 03/11/2007

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., helped Canada to the silver medal in the men’s pursuit after earning a bronze in the 1,500-metres to conclude the long track speed skating world single distance championships.

It was Morrison’s third medal of the competition. Kristina Groves of Ottawa, also added a third medal with a bronze in the women’s 5,000 while Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., was third in the women’s 1, 000. Canada ended the competition with nine medals, second only to the Netherlands with 11.

In the men’s 3,200-metre pursuit, Canada initially broke the world record in its race clocking 3:38.31 with Morrison, Arne Dankers of Calgary and Justin Warsylewicz of Regina. But the Dutch bettered that in the next pair clocking 3:37.80 to knock Canada to the silver position. Russia was third.

‘’The guys skated really well,’’ said Canadian national team coach Marcel Lacroix of Calgary. ‘’We were under the world record pace on every lap.’’

In the men’s 1,500, Shani Davis of the U.S., earned the gold in 1:42.39 with Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands second in 1:42.80 and Morrison third in 1:42.88. Morrison also won silver in the 1,000 on Saturday.

‘’Denny achieved his goals this weekend,’’ said Lacroix. ‘’We knew he could skate at this level and he showed he could do it consistently. He gained a lot of maturity this season in all aspects of his racing. He put a lot of pressure on himself here. It’s a big step in his career.’’

Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta, was fifth and François-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicolas, Que., seventh.
Read more ---->>>

Date posted: 03/10/2007

Canada won the gold medal in the women’s pursuit on Saturday while Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., added a silver in the men’s 1,000 metres at the world single distance championships in long track speed skating.
....
World record holder Shani Davis of the United States won gold in the men’s 1,000 in 1:07.28, just ahead of Morrison's 1:07.30. Lee Kyou-Hyuk of South Korea was third in 1:07.51. Morrison won the gold in the event at last weekend’s World Cup final, establishing a new Canadian record of 1:07.24.

‘’I wouldn’t say it was disappointing but I was definitely looking for another personal best this weekend,’’ said Morrison, 21. ‘’I made a couple of mistakes in the straightways and I was two-tenths off my start time (first 200-metres) from last weekend. But I followed it up with my best last lap ever.’’

Morrison was in the seventh of 12 pairs and patiently waited his final result.

‘’I thought the time was pretty good but I wasn’t sure it would hold up,’’ he said. ‘’I knew Shani would be strong on his home track and he really lit it up. For me it’s been really cool to do three 1,000 metres in the low 1:07’s. It’s been pretty neat to see my potential come through.’’

Brock Miron of Calgary was 12th and François-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicholas, Que., 15th. Read more ---->>>

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Okay, well maybe 'King of the 1000m' is better, but either way Denny was kind enough to talk to me Tuesday Afternoon on Moose FM.

On Friday Denny set a Canadian Record in the 1000m, won his first World Cup Gold Medal, added a bronze in the 1500M and did it all in front of his friends and family in Calgary.

By Randi Druzin, CBC Sports photo: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

To attend the World Cup speed skating final next spring, you'll need a rectangular piece of cardboard imprinted with the World Cup logo, the date and a picture of Denny Morrison. To you it's a ticket, to Morrison it's a milestone.

"Right off the bat, I thought it was pretty cool," Morrison says of the decision to make him the face of the Calgary competition and put his image on posters, fliers and tickets.

"Great skaters like Jeremy Wotherspoon and Catriona LeMay Doan have had their pictures used for this sort of thing many times before, so it was pretty cool to be recognized in that way."

Cool, perhaps, but not surprising.

After almost two decades on skates, Morrison had a breakout season in 2005-06 – and it changed his life. He has more fans, faces greater pressure and has tweaked his plans for the future.
Morrison, 20, started speed skating when he was three years old because his parents wanted him to learn how to skate and he was too young to play hockey.

The native of Chetwynd, B.C., focused on both short track and long track events for the next dozen years. But he decided to focus solely on long track four years ago.

"In long track it’s just me and the race and there isn’t as much luck or chance in what might happen," he told a speed skating website. "This means clearer results where the strongest skaters win, not the luckiest skaters." Read more --->>>

Date posted: 03/04/2007

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., and Kristina Groves of Ottawa won bronze medals on Sunday to conclude a successful World Cup season for Canada in long track speed skating.

The Canadians collected 27 medals on the nine-stop circuit this season.

In the men’s 1,500, Shani Davis of the U.S., broke the world record clocking 1:42.32 to lower his own mark of 1:42.68 set March, 19, 2006, also at Calgary’s Olympic Oval. Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands was second in 1:43.24 and Morrison took third spot in 1:43.43.

It was Morrison’s second medal this weekend – he won gold in Friday’s 1,000 – and fourth overall this season.

‘’It wasn’t a perfect race,’’ said Morrison, 21. ‘’I felt I had the capabilities to get into second place. I skated a bit too relaxed and I had a slower start than usual. Still it’s my second podium finish this season in the 1,500 so I’m satisfied. I planned this season to have my best results in March and right now that’s what’s happening.’’

François-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicholas, Que., was 12th, Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta., 13th and Justin Warsylewicz of Regina 14th. Read more ---->>>

Date posted: 03/02/2007

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., collected his first career individual victory in World Cup long track speed skating on Friday with a golden performance in the men’s 1,000-metres.

‘’It’s pretty amazing,’’ said Morrison, 21, in his third season on the national team. ‘’We put a program together to peak for this part of the season and I’m so happy I’ve stuck with it.’’

It was a big opening day for Canada at the World Cup final with Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., and Kristina Groves of Ottawa notching silver and bronze in the women’s 1,000 and Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg placing second in the distance’s overall standings.

In the men’s 1,000, Morrison clocked a Canadian and track record of 1:07.24. That eclipsed the previous national mark of 1:07.70 held by Jeremy Wotherspoon of Red Deer, Alta. Current world record holder Shani Davis of the U.S., was second in 1:07.78 and Yevgeny Lalenkov of Russia was third at 1:07.82. Morrison raced in the 11th of 18 pairs on the day. He watched 14 skaters fail to match his time.

‘’Our coaches said the time had a chance to stand up but I wasn’t so sure,’’ Morrison. ‘’But I didn’t mind waiting it was actually fun. When Shani didn’t match the time (in the second to last pair) I was getting pretty excited. I felt he was the biggest threat.’’

François-Olivier Roberge of St. Nicholas, Que., was 15th, Brock Miron of Calgary 21st, Jeff Kitura of Langley, B.C., 24th and Vincent Labrie of St-Romuald, Que., 26th. Read more --->>>

Date posted: 02/10/2007

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C ., Cindy Klassen of Winnipeg, and Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., each earned a medal on Saturday at the long track speed skating all around world championships.

Morrison, one of the fastest rising young stars in the sport, notched a second silver in two days finishing second in the men’s 1,500 metres. Klassen, who won five medals at the 2006 Olympics, collected her second bronze placing third in the women’s 3,000. Nesbitt took the bronze in the women’s 1,500 .

In the men’s 1,500, Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands won the gold medal in 1:45.19 with Morrison second in 1:45.70 and Enrico Fabris of Italy third in 1:45.97.

“That was a personal best for me on this track,” said Morrison, 20, also second in the 500 on Friday. “I’m finishing my last lap a lot stronger at this distance than earlier this season. I got away from my pair pretty early as I expected. That can be a disadvantage because you have no one to chase however it also allows you to focus on your own race.”

Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta., was eighth, Arne Dankers of Calgary 11th and Justin Warsylewicz of Regina 14th. Read more --->>>

Date posted: 02/03/2007

Canada won the gold medal on Saturday in the men’s 3,200-metre pursuit while Cindy Klassen of Winnipeg and Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., posted bronze medal performances at a long track speed skating World Cup competition.

In the men’s pursuit, Morrison, Arne Dankers of Calgary and Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta., took the gold in three minutes and 46.08 seconds. All three were part of Canada’s silver medal winning pursuit team here at last year’s Olympics. Russia was second in 3:47.86 and Italy, the Olympic champion, was third in 3:48.22.

“Arne Dankers put forth the idea we should try our best to even split our laps rather than start out fast,” said Morrison. “That seemed to work really well for us. We were disappointed with our first pursuit race earlier this season so it was nice to comeback and put on a really good show.”
....
In the men’s 1,500, Olympic champion Enrico Fabris of Italy was the winner in 1:44.97 with Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands second in 1:45.06 and Morrison third in 1:46.07.

“That was a big improvement over my performances earlier in the season,” said Morrison, currently third in the World Cup standings. “The training I’ve done is really starting to pay off and it’s setting me up well for the world championships next weekend. I’m skating the way I want to right now.”

Francois-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicholas, Que., was seventh, Arne Dankers of Calgary ninth, Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta., 11th and Justin Warsylewicz of Regina 13th.

Competition ends Sunday. Read more --->>>

Even though not all Canadian men will look back equally pleased on the World Sprint Championships in Hamar after (almost) falls took them out of the competition, Denny Morrison is more than satisfied after his debut at the World Sprints. He managed to place seventh overall after two solid 1000m’s and winning a bronze medal in the second 1000m, and is now looking forward to the World All-round Championships that will take place from February 9th until 11th in Heerenveen.

By Jolanda Abbes, originally written for www.speedskating-online.com Read more --->>>

After several podium finishes at the World Cups, a silver Olympic medal in Turin, and a very impressive performance at the World All-round Championships last season, expectations for the fall World Cups were high for Denny Morrison. However, heavy pre-season training and malfunctioning equipment may have lead to slightly disappointing World Cup results so far in comparison to last year. But then again, after his convincing wins at the Canadian Single Distances Championships in December, the fall World Cups already seem to have taken place a long time ago. Denny Morrison reflects upon the first half of the season and looks forward to what is still to come.

By Jolanda Abbes, originally written for www.speedskating-online.com

Photo credit: Jolanda Abbes

Last year Denny Morrison made a great impression at the first World Cups and the World All-round Championships. And even though the Olympics in Turin may have been disappointing for him in terms of the individual distances, he was a member of the Canadian team pursuit team that brought home a silver Olympic medal. After such a great season, expectations are high for this post Olympic season and the years leading up to the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010. But despite a great pre-season with some very impressive times in the 1000m and 1500m, only one bronze World Cup medal and the fact that he kicked himself in the same way in several of his races, which slowed him down considerably, made Morrison starting to doubt himself for a while in the fall. Read more --->>>

Denny Morrison and Justin Warsylewicz. Two young Canadian speedskaters (1985). One had a great start of the speedskating season last year, but the Olympics were somewhat disappointing. The other one was junior world champion allround in 2004, but he also had to deal with a disappointment when he was diagnosed with a heart problem that same year. But both also Olympic silver medalists on the team pursuit in Turin. An introduction is in place.

By Jolanda Abbes, originally written for www.speedskating-online.com

It has been a long time since the Canadian allround speedskating team has had any significant results internationally. Slowly that seems to change. Marcel Lacroix, who is also Shani Davis’s coach, is preparing a young team for the Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver, including the two talents Denny Morrison en Justin Warsylewicz.

The best known of the two is probably Denny Morrison. Last year he surprised everyone during the world cups by showing great progress since the previous year. Especially the bronze medal in the 1000 meters and the silver medal in the 1500 meters in Turin seemed to indicate that he was going to be an important candidate for an Olympic medal on these distances. Read more --->>>