LONG TRACK: Daniel Greig is looking to improve on his stable start to the season as the Speed Skating World Cup circuit hits Stavanger this weekend.

The 26-year-old arrives in the Norwegian city after some solid performances at the opening World Cup event in Heerenveen, Netherlands, just under a week ago.

Greig finished 14th and 18th in his two 500 metre B races, ranking him in 36th for that distance, while his 1000m race came in at 21st with an overall ranking of 40th.

Coach Desly Hill said that the plan this week for Greig was to “just let the transition from hard work into speed come” at Stavanger.

“Dan has been busy testing material and technical things the last couple of weeks so this week we just plan on keeping it simple,” she said.

“He has done a lot of hard work to this point so [the] plan is to just go skate.

“There is no area of his life he did not improve this season so I look forward to him enjoying the rewards from that.”

Greig, who made his Olympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games, is a two-time Junior Inline Skating World Champion and has represented Australia multiple times in the European Inline Cup.

“Dan is a pretty amazing guy,” Hill said.

“He works two jobs, studies and pushes his body to its limits with skating, he does all that because he enjoys it, there is no area of his life he did not improve this season so I look forward to him enjoying the reward for that”.

With the 5000 metre distance and Mass Start not in Stavanger, Josh Capponi will have the opportunity to prepare for the third Speed Skating World Cup in Calgary this December.

“Josh really took a step forward in training this season and attitude too,” Hill said.

“[He] now gets a week home to prepare well for Calgary where his mission is to make a Mass Start final and skate the best 5000 he can. He has big goals and is not afraid to go all out for them. It’s a pleasure to watch him tackle that.”

The second of six Speed Skating World Cups will be held in Stavanger, Norway from 17 – 19 November. You can follow the live results at the event website HERE.

David Barden 
OWIA