The time has come for Graeme Fish to have his Olympic moment.
The 24-year-old former Kinsmen Moose Jaw Speed Skating Club competitor will make his debut in speed skating at the Beijing Olympics when the 10,000 metres begins Friday at 2 a.m. Moose Jaw time.
Fans of the former world record holder won’t have to wait long to see Fish in action, either -- he skates in the first pairing with New Zealand’s Peter Michael.
The 12-skater field should take around two hours to work through, meaning we’ll know how Fish’s race went around 4 a.m. local time.
Fish has the fifth-best time in the 10,000 metres this season, that a 12:49.33 skated at World Cup #2 in Stavanger, Norway. Fish tested positive for COVID-19 at that meet and hasn’t competed internationally since.
His personal best is, naturally, the second-best in the field -- his time of 12:33.86 has only been beaten by one other skater in the history of the sport, that being gold medal favourite Nil van der Poel of Sweden, who holds the 10,000 world record at 12:32.95.
CBC.ca recently ran a feature on Fish and fellow Team Canada competitor Ted-Jan Bloeman, which you can read right here.
The Kinsmen Moose Jaw Speed Skating Club has cheered on Graeme every step of the way and held a rally on Wednesday night for their hometown hero. Check out all the fun from their event!
You can cheer on Fish in his quest for gold on the CBC.ca Olympic stream by clicking here.
