Winner Stefan Groothuis of the Netherlands (C), second-placed Canada's Denny Morrison (L) and third-placed …Denny Morrison finally has his individual Olympic medal — and the first of the 21st century by a Canadian man in long track speed skating.
In a script that played out in a too-good-to-be-true way, the 28-year-old Morrison, who stepped into the men's 1,000 metres after younger teammate Gilmore Junio gave up the spot he earned in qualifying, came up with the race of his life to win silver. Skating in the fourth-last pairing at the oval, the 28-year-old from Fort St. John, B.C., and the Netherlands' Michel Mulder went all out to match the time of one minute 8.39 seconds posted immediately before by Dutch star Stefan Groothuis.
Morrison came in at 1:08.43 and Mulder at 1:08.74 to move into podium positions. They then had to stand there in their skintight suits sweating out the final three heats. American star Shani Davis was up next, but had a relatively sluggish first lap and clocked at 1:09.12, good for eighth.
"This is true Olympic spirit, true Canadian pride," Morrison said in a joint interview with Junio.
"It's been a really tough season, I have been struggling with injury," added Morrison. "I just want to thank all the team for their support. Especially this guy [Junio]. He gave up his place for me and I would never have a medal without him."
"After what he did, it made it even more special. Giving up your spot is unprecedented. I feel like getting my medal and cutting in half because he deserves it."
"I called it," Junio said. "I feel like a prophet ... I was shaking [while Morrison was racing]. I was trying to check the luge scores to keep calm and I couldn't do it."