Canadian skaters Bloemen, Fish hope to push each other to top of podium

Inside the Olympic Oval in Calgary in early October, the Olympics still looming in the distance, Canadian speed skater Graeme Fish was trying to catch his breath. 

The 24-year-old from Moose Jaw, Sask. had just finished a 10,000-metre race against his training partner, Ted-Jan Bloemen. 

"I threw up after the race. I was spent," Fish said. "Ted is a really great teammate. Technically, he's probably the best skater in the world. He's super efficient."

Bloemen is the 2018 Olympic champion in the 10,000m. Fish was just starting to get really serious about the sport during those Games in South Korea and remembers vividly watching what Bloemen did. 

It sparked something inside of him — now the two are pushing each other to the edge and it's making them both better because of it. 

"I'm skating with the Olympic champion," Fish said. "Just following Ted. You always have to be on with him."

Now the two will compete together at the Beijing Olympics. 

Bloemen has already competed at the Games and is going to need to rebound for what can only be described as a disappointing result. On the second day of competition Bloemen was skating in the 5,000m, the same event he won silver in four years ago in Pyeongchang. He was ranked second in the long distance coming into the race. 

He started strong but faded fast, finishing in 10th spot. 

"I started out really well and I don't know what happened. I am really confused. I don't understand it," Bloemen said after the race. 

It's time to regroup for Bloemen, who still has two events left. 

While Fish has been following Bloemen's lead for years, he eventually passed him in dramatic fashion in February 2020. At the Oval in Salt Lake City, Fish not only won the 10K gold medal at the world championship, he set a new world record — a record that was previously held for five years by Bloemen. It has since been passed by Sweden's Nils van de Poel. 

Just a few years before that prolific moment, Fish wondered what was ahead for him in speed skating and if he would ever be as good as Bloemen. And then, on that February day he stood atop the podium, Bloeman beside him after finishing second. 

Fish and Bloemen are hoping their competitive yet positive training environment can help lead to a double-podium performance in Beijing.