麻豆社区

Mary Lake-born speedskater Troy Henry earned himself a new season-best in the 10,000-metres on the country's biggest stage last week.

Participating in the Olympic trials at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, the 24-year-old crossed the finish line in 14:07.57, good for fifth overall amongst participating skaters.

"I'm pretty pleased with the results,鈥濃�圚enry told the Star this morning from Calgary.

"Going into the trials, there wasn't really any expectation to make the Olympic team. These trials were important for me for getting points for getting onto the national development team or the national team.

"That's what these trials were important for me for,鈥濃�圚enry added.

"Throughout the year, there are various competitions at which I can get points towards getting onto the national team, and this was one of them.鈥�

Henry also participated in the 5,000-metre where he finished 11th in a time of 6:46.24.

While the performance wasn't enough to land Henry a spot on Team Canada, the Yukon long-track skater was keeping things in perspective.

"There wasn't really that many spots available. There was only one spot available in the 5K for me to get into,鈥� he explained. "So I wasn't really expecting to be able to go to the Olympics. But I was happy with my results nonetheless.

"There's always 2018 in the future that I could be eligible for.鈥�

Henry, who has been training in Calgary since 2008, will now turn his focus towards two Canada Cup events.

The Canada Cup 3 event will take place Jan. 24 to 26 in Saskatoon, while the Olympic Oval Finale/Canada Cup 4 event will happen March 13 to 16 in Calgary. The latter event will conclude the Canada Cup Series and feature international competition through the Olympic Oval Finale.

Following last week's trials, Henry competed in the Canada Cup 2 event, finishing 10th in the 1,500-metre

Henry plans to continue training at the Olympic Oval for one or two more years, given the way his skating has progressed over recent years.

Though the team will not be officially announced until Jan. 22, athletes nominated following last week's Intact Insurance 2014 Team Selections continue to get their bodies and minds lined up for Feb. 7 to 23.

Canada has the ability to send 18 athletes to the Games (10 women, eight men), with the athletes to be nominated by Speed Skating Canada's Olympic Selection Committee following the selections and announced publicly on Jan. 22 at Calgary's Olympic Oval.