REMPEL SET FOR SPEED SKATING WORLD CUP IN CALGARY THIS WEEKEND
By ALLAN MAKI
Thursday, December 4, 2003
The Globe and Mail

CALGARY -- For this weekend's World Cup speed-skating event at the Olympic
Oval, please make the following scratches: Catriona Le May Doan, two-time Olympic gold medalist, retired; Susan Auch, two-time Olympic silver medalist, retired; Cindy Klassen, 2003 world all-round speed-skating champion, injured and out of action; Germany's Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt, 2002 Olympic silver medalist, injured and out of action.

Does this mean there isn't a skater worth watching when the women's 500-metre event gets everything going in circles on Saturday? Not by a long track. Although Le May Doan and Auch have set the loftiest of standards for Canada's next generation of female speed skaters, Shannon Rempel is well on course as someone to keep tabs on, someone with the attitude and aptitude to go a fair way.

Already, the Winnipeg-born Rempel is the 2003 world junior champion. She holds the world junior record in the 500 with a time of 38.53 seconds. On top of that, she competed on the World Cup circuit last season against seasoned rivals and managed three top-16 finishes. She also placed 11th (in the 1,000 metres) and 14th (in the 500) at the world single-distance championships and was 14th overall at the world sprint championships. She did all that as an 18-year-old. And despite the fact she celebrated her 19th birthday just last week, the world of long-track speed skating still considers her a junior. So why is she racing against pressure-treated women 10 years older? Because she can, her coach, Marcel Lacroix, said. She could use the experience, too."We don't want to put her in with the sharks too early," a cautious Lacroix said yesterday.

"We know she's one of our top athletes and we need to approach things carefully. You look and everybody in women's speed skating is [age] 30 and up. She's got the talent, but for her to say, 'I'll win a medal tomorrow' is unrealistic. She's building for the future and that's important."

For the past several months, Rempel has been hearing about the future. Her success, coupled with the retirements of Le May Doan and Auch, has produced the inevitable comparisons and "the next one" moniker that haunts gifted, young athletes in all sports.
If it bothers Rempel, she doesn't show it. Rather than a curse, Rempel thinks of it more as a tribute. "People ask me, 'How do you feel being labelled that?' I say it's an honour.
I don't feel any pressure from that because I'm still young and I'm learning," she said. "I'm learning not to dwell on things, but I know I have to step up and do it. If I can skate well, like I did last season, I can be competitive here."

With a few less on-ice sharks to worry about this weekend, Rempel and Lacroix have set their realistic goals based on times, not placings. Rempel said she'd like to finish in less than 39 seconds in the 500, and less than 1 minute 17 seconds in the 1,000. Beyond that, she wants to "take what I can out of each race. I watch people skate, how they train, how they prepare themselves." Whatever she learns will be put in good use. This season, Rempel will slide back and forth between select junior events and as many World Cups as possible. Once again, she intends to show her stuff at the world sprint and single-distance championships. And if she progresses as quickly as she already has, Lacroix sees nothing but great things ahead. "She should be one of our top athletes for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler.

The next Olympics [2006 in Italy] will be for experience. It'll be, 'Do your best and maybe crack the top 10,' " said Lacroix, who said he's been most impressed by Rempel's refusal to rush into things and get too far ahead of herself. "She's not, 'I'll take the team on my shoulders.' She looks at this as a process. Every weekend she wants to get better technically and get a little stronger, a little faster. She's very mature for a junior skater."

One worth following in the days and years to come.

The speed skating world cup takes place December 6th and 7th at the Olympic Oval. Competition starts at noon.