William Dutton (speed skater)

William Christian Dutton (born 28 November 1989 in Regina, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian speed skater. He is a member of the Canadian World Cup team. He has won 5 World Cup medals; 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze all in 2015. He was a member of the Sochi 2014 Canadian Olympic team, and is currently a Senior member of the Speed Skating Canada World Cup and long track speed skating teams.^[2] Dutton finished third in the 2014 500-meter Canadian Olympic trials and fourth in the 1000-meter trials, qualifying him to skate for Canada at both distances.^[2][3] Dutton is only the second Canadian to win medals in each of the first four 500 meter races of a World Cup season; the other is Canadian speed skating legend Jeremy Wotherspoon who did it NINE times.^[4] Seven other skaters have medalled in the four opening 500 meter races.

Dutton began his speed skating career with the Saskatoon Lion's speed skating club and later skated with the Humboldt Speed Skating Club. He was first named to the Canadian national long-track team in 2009.

William Dutton is a Canadian Olympic and World Cup speed skater.^[5] He skated in the two mens 500 meter races and the 1000 meter in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Dutton placed 18th in the first 500 and 11th in the second for a combined 14th. He was 26th in the 1000.^[6]

Dutton also represented Canada in the 2014 World Sprint Championship finishing seventh overall.^[7] Following the Olympic games Dutton skated in the ISU World Cup races in the fall circuit. He was injured and did not compete in the winter World Cups. Instead, he entered the Red Bull Crashed Ice racing circuit competing in Minneapolis, Finland and Edmonton. Dutton finished 3rd in a race in Finland.

Dutton officially retired from the Canadian speed skating team in June 2015.^[8] However, when Speed Skating Canada hired coach Kevin Crockett (Overland) a few weeks later, Dutton decided to return to speed skating.

He skated in his first post-retirement World Cup race in Calgary on November 13 winning his first international medial, a bronze in the 500. On the following Sunday he won his second medal, a Silver in the 500.^[9] He set a personal best of 34.25 which tied him for the 6th fastest time ever skated.^[10]

In the second World Cup event of the season Dutton won a second Silver and Bronze in the 500 at the Salt Lake Olympic Oval (ISU World Cup Rankings). He added a Gold in the Team Sprint setting a world record of 1:17.75 ^[11] with his teammates Alex St. Jean and Vincent deHatre.^[12]

World Cup Medals

^[11][13]

Early Canadian National Competition and Winter Games

Dutton has been a competitive long-track skater since 2002, when he first skated in a Canadian age-class championship in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; he and Humboldt Speed Skating Club teammates Addison and Ebony Thiel won a total of six medals. In the 2004 Canadian Long Track Mass Start Speed Skating Championships, Dutton won the bronze in the 1500-meter race.^[14] He skated at the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, winning a bronze medal in the 100-meter sprint.^[15][16]

Junior

In the February 2009 Canadian Junior Championship at the Richmond Olympic Oval, Dutton placed third in the combined 500- and second in the 1000-meter sprints.^[17] That year he skated at the World Junior Championships in Zakopane, placing seventh overall in the combined 500.^[18]

Dutton skated the world's third-fastest junior 500 time (35.64 seconds)^[19] and became a member of the national development team. He qualified for the Canadian World Cup team for the first time and skated in the 500 and 1000 meter sprints at the Thialf in Heerenveen Netherlands on November 12 and 14.^[20]

2010 Olympic Trials and World Sprint Championship

In the 2010 Canadian Olympic trials, Dutton finished seventh in the combined sprints (two 500-meter races and one 1000-meter). On January 4 he was named by Speed Skating Canada's High Performance Committee to the Canadian World Sprint team for the 2010 ISU World Sprint Championships, held in Obihiro, Hokkaido on January 15 and 16.^[21]

Late in the 2011 season Dutton partially severed his Achilles tendon while practising starts,^[22] and the injury caused him to miss the first half of the World Cup season. After recovering, he qualified for spring World Cup racing^[23] and finished 12th in the 500 meters at the last World Cup meet of the year in Heerenveen.^[24]

At the 2013 Canadian Fall World Cup trials Dutton placed second at 500 and 1000 meters, posting personal best times at both distances.^[25] As a result of his trials result, he was named to the 2013 Canadian Fall World Cup team. In the first meet of the 2013-14 season, on November 8 at the Calgary oval, Dutton placed 15th in the Group A 500-meter race.^[26] The next day, when he raced Dimitri Lobkov, he sustained cuts to his right leg (requiring 12 stitches) in a fall in the last turn of the Men's A group 1000 and was carried off the ice on a stretcher.^[27] Although Dutton missed the second 500 in Calgary and the Salt Lake World Cup races, he returned to World Cup competition in Astana on November 30; he finished fourth in the Group B 1000 and third in the Group B 500. In the Berlin World Cup he finished first in the Group B 500, returning to Group A, and was 15th in the Group A 1000.^[28]

2014 Canadian Olympic Trials

During the 2013 pre-Olympics season, Dutton trained in Norway with American coach Peter Mueller of Norwegian professional team CBA and Speed Skating Canada chose not to name him to the 2013 national development team. Skating as an independent Dutton skated the men's 500 and 1000 meters at the Canadian Olympic trials in Calgary, qualifying at both distances. He and fellow Saskatchewan skater Marsha Hudey were two of three skaters not on the Canadian national or development teams to qualify for the Canadian Olympic team (the third was Vincent de Haitre of Ontario).

In the 2014 Canadian Olympic trials 1000 meter race Dutton and Olympic silver medallist Denny Morrison were the next-to-last pairing in the 1000 meter Olympic qualifier. Morrison fell coming out of the last corner, sliding in front of Dutton. Dutton finished fourth and Morrison (given a re-skate after a mandatory rest period) did not make the top four. However, Canadian Olympic team member Gilmore Junio chose to give Morrison his spot in the Olympic 1000 meter race and Morrison won the silver medal.^[29]

Red Bull Crashed Ice

In the fall of 2015 Dutton qualified for the fall World Cup races placing second in the 500 at Canadian trials.^[7] At the first World Cup meet of the year he placed 12th in race 1 of the 500 and 15th in Race 2. ^[30] Dutton returned to Canada and missed the Canadian Single Distance Championship and Winter World Cup trials due to a groin injury. Dutton had long wanted to try Red Bull Crashed Ice. With some help from his friend Canadian Olympic and World Cup short track speed skater Francois Hamelin, Dutton was able to sign up for the Crashed Ice racing in Minneapolis, Finland and Edmonton. He cracked three ribs the first time he hit the 400 meter downhill ice cross track, cracked his wrist in another race and finished third behind fellow Canadians Scott Croxall and his brother Kyle Croxall in Crashed Ice Rider Cup Race in Finland.^[31]

Retirement

Following the Crashed Ice season Dutton went to work as a carpenter in Calgary. He also enrolled in Firefighters College.^[32] Dutton hiked British Columbia's famous the West Coast Trail in June and made a decision to retire from speed skating making an official announcement that month.^[8]

Comeback

Within two weeks of Dutton's retirement announcement Speed Skating Canada announced the hiring of Kevin Crockett as the sprint team speed coach. Crockett, who had previously spoken to Dutton about joining Crockett's International training group, talked Dutton into returning to the Canadian team.^[33] On November 13, 2015, almost exactly one year to the day Dutton was informed of his uncle Stephen's sudden and tragic death, he won his first World Cup medal. He followed that by winning four more medals at the first two World Cup meets of the season, Calgary and Salt Lake.

Personal

Dutton is the son of Craig and Lynn Dutton. He has three sisters Brandi, Abbey and Mila. Mila suffers from Rett syndrome a physically and mentally debilitating disease. Dutton has stated that witnessing the challenges sister Mila faces in daily life have helped him overcome adversity. Dutton is the grandson of Bill Dutton, part-owner of the Arizona Coyotes^[34] who is the nephew of Hockey Hall of Famer Red Dutton.^[35] Though born in Regina, Dutton grew up in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.^[36]

References

External links

• Dutton skates with Olympic Medallists